PROJECT LIFE!

A picture each day for the entire year! I wanted to do this last year (it was called Project 365) but missed the boat on ordering the kit before it sold out. Luckily, Becky Higgins (BTW, I included links in this post, click on the colored words for more info) is a smart girl and realized she could make a fortune launching her own company based on this idea (wait a minute, why didn't IIIII think of this first????) and set to work on creating this year's version of the concept, PROJECT LIFE. It came in the mail at the beginning of the month and I have dutifully kept it up to date with a picture for each day! It hasn't been hard for me to take a picture a day. In fact, I have always been one to have my camera with me most of the time, so that part has been easy. Actually, the trickiest part for me has been DECIDING which picture to feature each day. Like for this week, "Saturday" I could choose:

Lewis' last basketball game,

Brayden airborne after a massive BLOW OUT!

or me with one of my Mia Maids after the Best of Especially for Youth activity this morning?

Obviously, some pictures turned out better than others, but what was the most important story for that day? Hmmm. It is a dilemma.

Or, there was this past THURSDAY that I am trying to figure out. Thursday was the Pinewood Derby and Lewis won First Place! Which picture do I choose?

The one with all the cute cars (Lewis' is the blue Utah Jazz)?

The one with Lewis receiving his prizes?

Or this one with Dad who helped him build his car?

It really is hard to narrow it down. I hope I get better at that part.

The whole concept is great. I am forced to tell the story of our family in a much more in depth, raw and true way. It is really fun and I am remembering to jot down the experiences and day to day things that I might normally forget about and might consider too boring to scrapbook. This set up gives me permission to talk about whatever strikes my fancy for the day, since I know that tomorrow, I can focus on something totally different and new!

Everything about this project has been easy and fun and I can't wait for BH to offer some more album options like school year books and baby albums. I also love that she is going digital and once she works the bugs out there (I'll give it a good year for everyone else to be the guinea pigs) I will definitely go that route. I love the idea of being able to create ONE book, one time, and then print it several times for different people in my family to have copies of. I also like that I can replace it if it ever gets ruined. Digital is definitely the way to go, but, like I said, it isn't my favorite way to preserve memories yet. Up until now, I have struggled with digital scrapbooking in other venues. It is not quite EASY enough for me yet and I have dropped the ball on a few projects I have tried to do. In fact, it has been a full year since I started changing my blog into a printed book format- I am STILL working on THAT. (Unfortunately, I am one of the guinea pigs for that venue and I hate it. I wish the kinks would be all worked out there). I just don't enjoy staring at a computer for hours on end and I don't like dealing with technology (it is always so fickle). Plus, I like to be able to SEE all of my creative options spread out in front of me and then pick and choose and create. It is too hard to do that in the cyber world and there are too many endless choices for a perfectionist girl like me. But, because I love Becky Higgins stuff so much, I know I would feel no need to change anything because it would be perfect from the get go and I really could just drag and drop and move on! I just like anything and everything Becky Higgins gets her hands on. It is always streamlined and easy and beautiful.

This album that I ordered this year is a HUGE three ring binder with all the essentials all ready to go. I just have to add the photos and words. EASY. But, I don't like how BIG the book is, especially since I don't have a ton of places to store things in this house, I am looking forward to the skinnier, more compact digital version for next year.

For now though, I am LOVING getting back into the old school, printing of the pictures and slipping them into a book made of paper and plastic page protectors. I love that I can write the journaling in my own handwriting, add memorabilia, and change things up if I ever want to. For now, this is a great solution for me to get SCRAPPING since I haven't in a very long time! And, so far, we've got one month DOWN! Only eleven more to go!

December in a Nutshell

December was a bit of a blur for me this year. Am I the only one who thinks it JUST WHIZZED RIGHT BY? I still can't believe Christmas has come and gone. We spent the majority of the month preparing for the Christmas break. I put together countless projects for my students in assembly line fashion. A packet of fun activities for those kiddos to work on over the break with a CD to go with it, parent gifts from the kids, gifts to the kids from their teacher, gifts from the principal to the entire faculty, decorations for the Christmas program, etc. Not to mention the extra curricular work that over took me. . choosing, buying and wrapping gifts for the Sub for Santa program, purchasing books for the school teachers to give their students as gifts. . .etc. etc. BUSY, BUSY! I could not WAIT for school to be over so I could start focusing on all of our family fun! Needless to say, it didn't slow down much once the Christmas break began. Like I said, it literally FLEW by! But, we did manage to make a few memories along the way. Most of them, I did not have a camera for (I have been so DISORGANIZED lately). But, I thought I would jot them down so as not to forget them entirely. Here's what I recall from the month of DECEMBER!

December 1st- Family Home Evening with the Van Fleets (went to the temple grounds to see the lights and nativity, back to the VanFleets for hot chocolate and donuts). We did take a picture of the kids on the steps of the temple, but we used James' phone camera, so I probably will never see the pic again unless I ask him to send it to us. It was a fun night though, not too cold or crowded and the company was excellent. We are so glad the VanFleets are in our lives!

December 6th- Lewis had his first Basketball game. He is loving basketball. Still a little unsure of himself out on the court, but he actually fouled someone at the last game-so he is getting more aggressive! Also, we spent the day decking the halls. After this day, I finally felt ready to take on the holidays!

December 7th- Watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with the Adams'. The boys didn't pay much attention to it (they were having too much fun reliving Halloween) but the adults (and baby Amy on occasion) really enjoyed the inspirational messages shared and it really helped set the tone for the coming weeks and got me on the right track for the holidays.

December 13th- Twelve Days of Christmas began! The kids woke up to discover the first day of Christmas goods in their stockings! This year, here is what they scored:


Day One- 1 new book to read!
Day Two- 2 new gloves (Conner immediately lost his within the day):)
Day Three- 3 awesome pencils (the mechanical kind) this was kind of a joke (Conner was WAYYY bugged. I think he said, "that's ALL we get?"). The boys do their homework in the car on our way home from school (we have a thirty minute commute both ways). It seems we NEVER have a pencil in the car-only pens. So, these pencils are to stay IN the car (hopefully)! P.S. After our sweet (easy to please) Lewis went ON and ON about how great his new pencils were, Conner finally came around. They have such DIFFERENT personalities!
Day Four- 4 chocolate bells (Conner made a suggestion after opening this gift. He said, "Mom, maybe for the FIFTH day of Christmas, we should get FIVE packs of Pokemon Cards!" We ended up having to remind Conner of the reason for the Twelve Days-to count down the days until Christmas-not celebrate Christmas in advance!)
Day Five- 5 Golden Spoons! (We have yet to go out for our ice cream date as I type this! We better get on that-the break is almost over!)
Day Six- 6 shiny quarters
Day Seven- 7 Kisses (Lewis immediately came looking for me for the real ones, even though he also got chocolate ones. He is soooo great! Conner begrudgingly took some kisses from me. I sure miss my little Conner who used to LOVE snuggling and kissing):(
Day Eight- 8 pack of crayons
Day Nine- 9 candy canes (some to make into candy cane reindeer and share with friends)
Day Ten- 10 ten places to put your fingers to keep them warm from the snow (Steve bought the boys REAL snow gloves since we actually had snow on our lawn to play in)!
Day Eleven- 11 dollars to buys a gift for your brother
Day Twelve- 12 ingredients to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies for Santa (save some oatmeal for the reindeer):)

December 16th- Faculty Christmas Party. It included a HUGE white elephant exchange (over 60 people!) that carried on throughout the evening as everyone ate and chatted. The food was endless and I ate WAAAY too much. I paid for this dearly throughout the night and into the next day. :( The boys were well cared for by Miss Maria, one of the most AMAZING ladies ever! She is one of the reading aides at our school and has a grandson the same age as Lewis. She invited the boys to eat at Quiznos and go shopping and then hang out at her house until the party was over. The boys had such a blast, she of course, spoiled them rotten! I really need to get a picture of her with the boys. She has been so good to our "commuting" family.

December 17th- My Christmas get together gets snowed out! About every other month or so, my old teaching girlfriends from my "Red Mountain" days get together at Applebees for dessert. I haven't been able to make it to the past few (Steve is usually out of town or at a meeting or something, plus I have my "morning sickness" at night). We don't meet until 9:00 at night, so getting a sitter on a school night is out of the question. Well, this time, I decided to move the party to my house (Steve was on his way to catch a flight to Cali). Crazy as it seems, our neck of the woods actually saw a good amount of snow on this night! One of the girls lives in Winchester Hills (up and away from the city) and was completely snowed in! We decided to cancel our plans and reschedule. Bummer. One great bonus: Steve's flight got canceled so he was HOME for the weekend! Looking back, how would I have survived those last few days of school without him? The snow ended up being a BLESSING in disguise!

December 18th- St. George sees it's first SNOW DAY in a really long time (I don't remember what the news said the time span really was). Anyway, OUR school did NOT get a snow day. We just got a LOT of rain! As we were driving in the early morning on our way to Arizona, the boys were in awe of all the white stuff everywhere. They were VERY concerned it was not going to be here when we got back (I think Lewis even got a little teary as we drove further into the gorge and the snow started turning into rain). Needless to say, the snow DID STICK to our lawn and there was just enough to make snow angels and build a jolly snow man (good thing Steve was home to do this with the boys)!

December 19th- Beaver Dam Elementary Christmas Program. I must admit, I was a bit of a scrooge about this program this year. We had to hike up to the high school (just up a hill from our elementary) to practice twice (two weeks prior) and then, go up again for the actual performance. I wasn't thrilled about the time away from "instruction" that my kids were going to be missing. I know, I am sooooo lame! The program ended up being pretty cute, however, I felt like the Kindergarten kids could have sung MUCH louder. They sounded so cute at practice, they must've had a little stage fright! Conner's first grade class sang a song called "Holiday Hoedown" and it was really cute. Of course, my son and a couple of his little "followers" decided they were "too cool" to wear the cowboy hats like everyone else (why is he such a rebel lately?) but it will be a funny memory to look back on. His little bare head amongst all the cowboy hats. He did sing really loud though! He's got a great voice! Lewis' third grade class also did a cute number. It was called the "Penguin Polka." His song invloved some more complex dance moves! He was a RIOT! I will never forget his excitement and energy as he performed the song. NOT embarrassed at ALL!
THIS WAS ALSO THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR 2008!!!!!!!!! HALLELUIAH!!!

I tried to do the panoramic setting on this picture, but I guess I still need some practice! At least I got the general idea! I thought that the reason the pictures below weren't so great is because I had given the camera to someone else, but this is proof that I can't work my camera very well either!

December 20th- Christmas Party at Laura's. This group is my Canasta group. We usually play cards once a month, but when there is a holiday, we try to have a party with the husbands. Steve really has fun with this group of guys. This night was no exception. We laughed and laughed. Plus, this was like the first thing I have made and appearance to since my belly started poking out. Not very many knew that we have a bun in the oven. I am sure they all just thought I was getting really fat! We ate appetizers and soup in bread bowls and played pictionary (Christmas carol style) as well as had the white elephant exchange. Steve scored this sweet life size George W. Bush replica for us, but it was quickly stolen away (I can't say I wasn't a little relieved):)


December 21st- Primary craziness! I was in charge of the Christmas lesson so luckily Carolyn, my trusty sidekick and next door neighbor who teaches the CTR 6 class with me, did all the EXTRAS! I had absolutely no energy left to put together yet another parent gift! She took the lead and made a handprint towel with our kids for the parents. She pulled each kid into the hallway during opening exercises and got them started so they would have time to dry. She wrapped them up real cute and later, during class, I helped the kids make cards to put with them. This year, during sharing time, Conner was chosen to play Joseph in the nativity. He looked soooo dang awesome! One of the other teachers snapped a picture of everyone with his phone camera (dang it, I didn't have mine with me AGAIN). Hopefully I will get to see that someday. It was precious!

December 22nd- Christmas Cards and Neighbor Gifts- I must say, working on the Christmas cards this year was very theraputic for me. It has been AGES since I have hauled out my scrapping supplies and worked on a fun project like this. These cards were super easy to put together and took very little planning and preparing. I didn't want to have to take family pictures or anything like that, so that is how the photo collage idea came about. All I had to do was pick three old pictures and put them together. I also didn't want to have to buy any new materials to make the cards, I tried to just use what I had on hand. This ended up working out at first, but I didn't have enough of any one thing, so I still had to make a trip or two to the craft store, but it was fun. The actual assembly line for putting the cards together sat around our house for a few days. I just worked on them whenever I had a spare second (usually while our family watched a fun Christmas movie together). This did not allow for all the cards to get out the door on time though. I am sure a LOT of people did not get them until Christmas was over, but I tried my best! I gotta say though, making the cards was the best! I felt so content to just be tucked safely inside my cozy little house with my family, working on something enjoyable! It was so relaxing and fun. My favorite ones ended up being the big red flower with the large antique bronze center (the one kind of cut off on the bottom of the picture). I wish I would have had enough of those items to make all 70 of them look like that one, but I didn't. I think all the people who ended up with that particular card are the luckiest!

Neighbor gifts were another story. I don't know if it's just a Utah thing to have to have a "catchy" play on words type of neighbor gift or what? But I was at a loss this year. We finally decided to give out Scone mixes (since we had bought so many for our food storage) and once we thought of our "catch phrase" Steve was actually a little embarrased to take them around! We laughed so hard when we were trying to think of something "clever" to say with our mixes. We ended up going with:

If you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays you can't beat SCONES SWEET SCONES!

I know! We are such dorks. I was just glad to get them out the door though. We did enjoy giving a special neighbor award to Carolyn though! She and her sister deserve double brownie points for all they do for us. A while back, Conner got the MVP award for his football team one day. It happened to be on a night when Carolyn had to take Conner for us and Steve and I felt like total loser parents because we missed the MVP action that got Conner the award (it was parent teacher conference night at school). We ended up discussing the fact that Conner would have completely MISSED the game had it not been for Carolyn stepping in and volunteering to run Conner there. Lewis said, "She needs an M.V.N. award!" (Most Valuable Neighbor). We all laughed and thought that was so funny! We joked about going around to all our neighbors and declaring the nominees for the award but that probably Carolyn would win for sure! Anyway, it's been a standing joke since that day in November, so we decided to present Carolyn with the REAL M.V.N. trophy this Christmas. We gave her sister Nancy the B.S.N. award too (Best Supporting Neighbor) since she is always helping us out too. It was funny to see the whole thing come full circle. We tried to make the awards as flashy, glitzy and funny as possible! Way to go Carolyn and Nancy! You are tough competition!




After this day was over, I felt like we could FINALLY relax a little. Then, I remembered, I still hadn't wrapped ONE thing FOR ANYONE by this day! UGHHHH. So. . .still a little more work for the elves to do-tomorrow perhaps!

December 23rd- Trip in to the specialist with the WHOLE family to see the baby on ultra sound! This was my fiftth time seeing the baby (and that wonderful little heartbeat) but neither Steve nor the boys had seen an ultrasound of this baby until today! He was very active and seeings how he had both legs up by his face at one point, it was VERY easy for the nurse to get a good view of this baby's anatomy. Definitely ALL boy! Of course! He looked very healthy and everything else looks great too. We are stoked!

December 24th- Christmas Eve was very relaxing and laid back. We made cookies for Santa in the afternoon and headed to Steve's parent's for the Christmas Eve dinner and program. We had a buffet style dinner and then gathered in the living room for the reading of Luke 2 with the kids dressing up for the nativity. Steve and I were Mary and Joseph last time, so Quincy and Sunnie took their turn this year. They sure made a cute Mary and Joseph. All the little boys wanted to be kings (wise men). Nobody wanted to be a shephard for some reason?! We tried to get little Amy to be the angel but she was pretty feisty about it. The highlight for me was Lewis playing two of the songs on the piano. He did a great job accompaning our off key voices! He was so excited to play and was so grown up about it. It has been fun to see him take to the piano.





After we left the Peterson's, we drove around Bloomington a bit to see some of the lights on the houses. It seems like the lights were pretty sparce this year so we got extra excited when we saw some houses that were REALLY decked out!




Before bed, we sprinkled the reindeer dust(oatmeal and glitter) on the lawn and set out the cookies. I also stayed up a little late after the kids were in bed to get some last minute cleaning done. This was the first year that I put my head to the pillow WITHOUT every square inch of the house being clean, all laundry put away etc. I just have NOT had the energy to keep up this year. I have tried not to let it bother me or distract me from having fun though!


December 25th- Christmas Morning- The boys did not follow orders to come directly to our bedroom FIRST before they went into the living room to see the goods. They snuck a quick peek and THEN came in to get us! I threw on a sweatshirt and went in to turn on the tree lights. Steve got the video camera ready and then the fun began! Of course, we saved our BEST present for last. The anticipation was thrilling and killing us! The boys let ME do the honors. Of course, I wasn't too shocked to see those words: "I'm a BOY!" We are SOOOO thrilled to finally know what it is! I really can't believe people have enough will power to go the full 9 months not knowing! Two days was enough anticipation for me!

At around 9:00, we piled in the car to go to my mom's house for the annual Christmas breakfast that she does for us. She makes crepes with strawberries and whipped cream and endless sausage and bacon. It is one of my favorite parts of Christmas morning! We opened more gifts and played all morning with cousins and nephews. Then we headed back to our house.

Christmas Afternoon- After cleaning up the general debri of the morning, I actually got to squeeze in a NAP! Then, Grandma and Grandpa Peterson came over to visit for awhile. It was rainy and yucky most of the day so we didn't get to try out the new skateboards much, but we did have a very peaceful and relaxing day playing with all our new stuff and being thankful for all we'd been given.

Christmas Evening- Back over to my parent's house for Christmas Dinner. Ham, shrimp salad, rolls, potatoes, salad, pistachio dessert etc. Yummy! We played some of our new games before heading home. Such a fun, fulfilling day!

December 26th- The morning was soooo great! We actually sat around in our jammies and played Star Wars Monopoly with the boys for five straight hours! We had NO agenda and nothing pressing! We couldn't believe how lucky we were! Steve can't remember the last time he's had such a relaxing Christmas. I am sooo glad he hasn't had work to do and this is one time of year where being an educator really pays off (since it usually doesn't monetarily)! The time we have together is PRICELESS!


That night, the boys had their annual cousin sleepover at Grandma Peterson's house. A few of Steve's sister's were able to come down from up north to join in the fun festivities. The youngest grandkids went to McDonalds with G&G Peterson and then back to their house for the sleepover party. The adults and older cousins went to Pizza Factory and then went over to Sunnie and Quincy's for games. Of course, it was fun, fun, fun!

December 27th- Steve woke up early to go rabbit hunting with the die hard hunters of the family. They hiked through waist deep snow but still managed to have smiles on their faces at the end of the day (I for the life of me don't know how?). I spent the day relaxing (trying to clean or be motivated to do ANYTHING really) but I basically layed around and watched movies all by myself. I thought I would ENJOY the time alone, but really, I was sad without my boys (who were still engulfed in cousin FUN all day at Grandma's). They came home (from SWIMMING-in an outdoor pool in the middle of DECEMBER) just in time to get ready for the Peterson Family Dinner Party at Sunnie and Quincy's. We had Honey Baked Ham, baked potatoes, salads and rolls. All delicious. Later that night, some of us (Three of Steve's sisters, six of their older kids and me) went to the $2, 8:30 showing of High School Musical 3. I had not seen it yet and I was blown away with pure excitement! Disney sure knows how to pull off a grande finale to a great series of musicals! This was the best, most cheesiest, most amazing one of them all! I loved it!

While I was at the movie, Steve took the boys and their cousin Adam to our house for a sleepover. They watched Kung Fu Panda and were still awake at 10:30 when I got home!

December 28th- This was my last Sunday to teach my own little Conner in my primary class. He is moving up to the 7 year old group next week. I will miss being his teacher. Today, Steve asked him who his favorite teacher has been (he has had some AMAZING ones) and he said ME! I really thought he'd pick the over the top, unbeleivable Johansen's who spoiled him rotten last year in the CTR 5 class (and who still call us on our birthdays)! I really didn't think I had a chance up against them! I am so glad Conner DOES love me:)


December 29th-Present- Right now, we are busily trying to get things done (um refinance our home-what? That is allllll Steve) including organize all of our new stuff into our lives, prepare for the upcoming year, get caught up with reading and piano practicing etc. etc. while still trying to maintain the balance of enjoying the laid back Christmas season. We have had a fabulous and QUICK paced December! Hope yours was just as packed with memorable events, people and blessings! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We Need a New Camera-PRONTO!!!

Here are some pictures I would have taken last week, had our camera not bit the dust:

Conner and his friends running around in the rain without shirts and yelling, "Rain harder! Rain harder!"

Lewis at his scouting activity at the park. He and all his little scout friends gathered 'round the flag in their little outfits, it was so patriotic and unexpected. Conner and I arrived a bit early to get Lewis and we would have missed it if we'd have come any later.

All the summer camp kids on the teeter-totter at one time (all nine of them)!

The cute primary kids singing songs to the elderly people in the rest home on Saturday. It was the sweetest thing. Not one person had a camera with them. I asked the front desk lady if they had a camera and they didn't! Crazy! I was pretty bugged because normally, I just have my camera in my purse. Anyway, I guess they want us to come back at Christmas, I will definitely have a new camera by then!

Conner wearing my black, strappy high heels while kneeling down next to Steve and helping take the dry fruit off the fruit dryer. In this one moment, so much of my six-year-old's little personality shined through. He is masterfully quirky and one of the best helpers I know. He loves to be involved in work and projects (just like his parents) yet at the same time, he knows how to have a good time! (BTW, the heels looked AWESOME with his soccer shorts)!

Lewis and Conner bopping around the yard with their umbrellas. Sunday's evening rain looked beautiful up against the black mountain. Our kids played and played in it! Finally they asked for umbrellas and ran around until after dark. We did get some footage on the video camera, but I am a still life kind of girl. I want to have boxes and boxes of still shots to look through when I'm old and gray. I hope I can remember the image of my two sweeties linked arm and arm and bouncing around the grass with their little umbrellas!

Just barely, Conner had me turn around to see what he was doing. I looked behind me and saw two umbrellas perched above a sleeping bag and a pillow and my little Conner inside the sleeping bag. All I could see was his little face beyond the umbrellas. He said to me, "Look! It's an umbrella house!"

I'm so buying me a new camera TONIGHT!!!!

Take Me Back Tuesday

Ahhhh! The good ol' days when both boys were young enough to appreciate a good old fashioned "family" party minus the "friends", invitations, party bags, gift requests and general-all the way around-hoopla. Take me back to this party, staged at grandma's house, with a few cousins and a cake for both boys to share! This was the year Lewis turned three and Conner turned one. I remember how scared Conner was of the candle and how uninterested he was in his presents (so totally opposite of today)! I remember how cute and grown up Lewis seemed in that cowboy hat given to him by Aunt Kristin, but compared to now he still had plenty of "baby" left in him! Oh this seems like so long ago! Yeah, if I had to choose one birthday to go back to, this would be a good pick. It was fun, low maintenance and low stress! I mean both boys having ONE party, talk about killing two birds with one stone. How smart were we as parents, to take advantage of that?! I wonder if I could talk them into sharing their birthday party again? I doubt Conner would go for it. Well, ya never know. Maybe one year he'll surprise me!

20 Questions For Father's Day

Dad (According to Lewis):
1. What is something your dad always says to you? I Love You.
2. What makes your dad happy? When he teases me.
3. What makes your dad sad? When I’m bad.
4. How does your dad make you laugh? He tickles me.
5. What was your dad like as a child? I don’t know-he liked root beer.
6. How old is your dad? He is 33.
7. How tall is your dad? I need to measure him to answer that. . .
8. What is his favorite thing to do? Tease.
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? Gets bored, goes to the mall.
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? Having a lot of money!
11. What is your dad really good at? Teasing.
12. What is your dad not very good at? Numb chucks.
13. What does your dad do for his job? Principal.
14. What is your dad's favorite food? Pizza.
15. What makes you proud of your dad? That he’s such a good dad.
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Timmy’s Dad on Fairly Odd Parents.
17. What do you and your dad do together? Go on bike rides.
18. How are you and your dad the same? We both have blue eyes.
19. How are you and your dad different? He has black hair and I have blonde.
20. How do you know your dad loves you? He teases me.

Dad (According to Conner):
1. What is something your dad always says to you? Tells me to say my prayers.
2. What makes your dad happy? Presents.
3. What makes your dad sad? When Lewis and me are on vacation.
4. How does your dad make you laugh? He chases me.
5. What was your dad like as a child? A crazy kid.
6. How old is your dad? 33 years old.
7. How tall is your dad? Really tall.
8. What is his favorite thing to do? Stay with me and Lewis.
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? Cries.
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? Tickling.
11. What is your dad really good at? Hugging.
12. What is your dad not very good at? Blowing up balloons.
13. What does your dad do for his job? He’s the principal.
14. What is your dad's favorite food? Carrots.
15. What makes you proud of your dad? When he buys me treats.
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Tom (from Tom & Jerry)
17. What do you and your dad do together? Play baseball.
18. How are you and your dad the same? We both play baseball.
19. How are you and your dad different? He’s big, I’m little.
20. How do you know your dad loves you? Because he likes to play with me.

This post is dedicated to the best dad we know! He's the one who plays with us, reads to us, tickles us and motivates us to be better people. We love it when he makes breakfast with us, teases us about Pokemon characters and makes our names out of cucumber slices. We know he loves us because he tells us each and every day! So Steve (AKA Dad), we hope you know we think you're great! Have a Happy Father's Day!

Our Favorite Five!

We spent the first part of our week finishing up our first road trip of the summer. We had a great time. We probably would have stretched it out longer if Steve didn't need to be back at the school by Wednesday, but it was good to be home when we finally got here. Life continues to be busy, even during our "downtime" of summer, but the busy-ness is different. Like Steve's dad always says, 'the "rest" is in the change'. That is definitely our motto for this summer! Busy, but fun! Here are some of our favorites for this week.

FIVE- Mount Rushmore! It took five different strangers to be able to get this picture of our family in front of the mountain. One guy tried THREE times but kept cutting off the presidents! I didn't think that with the technology of today's camera that taking a picture would still be so hard for people! Luckily, we finally got this one, the best of the bunch. The boys were at the perfect age for this kind of experience, hiking the "Presidents Trail" and learning about Mount Rushmore. I didn't realize how much the boys were paying attention until they were given the "Junior Ranger" booklet to fill out as they walked around the museum. They had to answer little questions about Mount Rushmore and how it was carved and facts about the presidents. Lewis was so cute. He said, 'Mom, I am so good at social studies. I will be able to be a junior ranger for sure!' and then he got right to work on his little booklet. When we handed the booklet back to the ranger to retrieve the "junior ranger badge" for the boys, the ranger asked Lewis which president on Mount Rushmore was his favorite. I thought he would say George or Abe because they are the most famous, but he surprised me when he said Theodore Roosevelt. I asked him later why he chose that president and he said, 'because he had such a hard life when he was young and he worked really hard to become great.' Wow! What great insight! This was a great experience for our boys! I will post more pictures from the trip as soon as I have more than a millisecond to be on this computer. Until then, here is our best family pic of the day.



FOUR: Sunnie and Quincy are back! Sunnie is one of Steve's seven sisters. She and her husband Quincy have been in Colorado for a few years and we have missed them. We used to be roomates with them for awhile (remember that Sunnie) and she used to be my favorite hairstylist. But, then they moved and we've only been able to see them at reunions and weddings etc. It will be so great to get together more often now. It was fun to spend time with them up at Grandma's during our road trip this week. Little Quincy and the boys played for awhile and we got to visit with Sunnie and hold baby Amy a little. Yep. It is good to have them back!





THREE: Baseball Fever! One of the movies we watched on our little road trip was The Sandlot. This was one of my favorite movies during high school. I saw it at the dollar theatre at least three times with different friends and laughed my head off everytime. One of my favorite things about being a mom is being able to watch some of these oldy but goody movies with my kids and see their reaction! We have watched The Princess Bride and What About Bob and a few others with the kids and it is a riot! Well, needless to say, the boys LOVED The Sandlot! So much so that they are completely obsessed with baseball now! It is so cute! They get up every morning and get dressed (one day they even put on their baseball uniforms) and they head outside to play ball! They rope Steve into taking them over to the nearby school field to pitch for them in the evenings and they play for hours upon hours! They put a bunch of baseballs, mits and a bat into a WALMART SACK and ride their bikes over to the field! It is hilarious to watch them try to get it all together, but they are so determined! Luckily, the weather around here has been EXTREMELY mild and awesome too so they haven't had the heat to rain on their parade. They even talked Carter, our neighbor's grandson, into playing over at the field with them one day. He went right along with it and seemed to be having as much fun as Lewis and Conner! Anyway, I am grateful to the movie, The Sandlot, for teaching my boys that summer is all about going outside and getting dirty! I love that they are "into" baseball right now and I hope the baseball fever doesn't end anytime too soon.



Maybe I should invest in a little baseball bag for them so they don't have to use the Walmart sack!


TWO: Digital Scrapbooking! I had a "scanning" party at my house on Thursday night. A lady from the Heritage Makers company scanned all my old photos (from childhood, my wedding, ancestors etc.) and then showed us how to use the program to make tons of different digital creations! I am so stoked! I tried learning about photoshop a while back and I don't have the money or time right now to devote to that realm of digital scrapbooking, but this is SUPER easy and it will be a good way for me to get my foot in the door with digital. Plus, this company has a ton of extra bonus features that I had no idea! Anyway, here is a link to the website. Anyone who has been thinking about going digital should check it out. I was skeptical at first, but I am really sold now. Can't wait to start on some of my projects!
http://www.heritagemakers.com/



ONE: The Angela Johnson Sculpture Exhibit. WOW! Have you been to the Angela Johnson sculpture exhibit yet? It is in the temple visitor center until June 28th. DO NOT MISS IT! It is absolutely AMAZING! This woman started sculpting ten years ago just on a whim. She was a Soprano Opera singer for a long time and then just decided one day that she wanted to try something different. She had never taken a sculpting class before in her life, but felt inspired to buy some clay. She realized she has a natural talent and began creating unbeleivable sculptures. She has some of her creations on display right now and they will only be in three temple visitors centers total. I can't remember which ones. I recommend you call in advance and find out when Sister Parry will be there. She was our guide and did such an incredible job! I truly learned so much about the life of Christ and how it relates to my life through this exhibit. I went with some friends, but I am planning to take Steve and the boys to see it too. Definitely mark your calendars and head over there! AWESOME!!!!

Here is a link to her website, but ya gotta see these up close and in person!
Angela Johnson Sculptures

Confessions of a Mommy Blogger

I read this great article in one of my favorite magazines (it's called "Wonder time") and I thought it would be fun to share some of it with all of my blogger friends. Since I am new to this whole blogging world, I am still not completely convinced it is worth my time. This article helped me understand blogging a little more. It sort of confirms why we blog and what benefit we all get from blogging. I will only share a few key points here, but if any one wants to read the entire article, it is in the February 2008 issue.

" Blogging is narcissistic-and time consuming. It gives strangers (not to mention the in-laws) ammunition for criticizing our parenting choices. And one day it could really mortify our kids. Here's why we do it anyway. . ."

"1. To understand that you are not alone. Especially if you're a mother. Someone out there is still awake with a restless toddler or dotting their newborn with Doritos fallout. I read blogs to feel that I am part of something larger, a whole world of other women raising children on this crazy, spinning planet. Being a parent is so frustratingly difficult and blindingly beautiful at the same time. Blogs remind me to celebrate the beautiful and that I am not alone in the difficult.
2. Blogging is the underbelly of scrapbooking. [Only it aint so pretty]. In the scrapbook version of my summer vacation, I would paste together a sunny collage of sea and sand and smiling kids. In the blog version, I might be more inclined to mention the steaming beach Port-A-John where the final quarter of Birdy's sandwich ended up tumbling into the reeking blackness. Blogging might not make life tidier, but it keeps life in your memory and keeps it real.
3. For me and the millions of others who do it, blogging can also be the literary equivalent of streaking through a stadium-15 minutes of slightly crass fame-but over and over again!
4. Writing helps me pay attention as the years fly by. I'm forever scrolling notes on Target receipts about the things the kids say. Because I am seeing our family's life as a funny story I could tell, [I really pay attention].
5. I think blogging actually makes me a better parent because I feel like I'm being watched, even if its only self imposed. It's like the way I am a better parent when there are guests in the house-more inclined to make waffles and play Monopoly. One anonymous blogger puts it 'I go through my day in kind of a compose post mode, where I am actively selecting words to describe my children, their beauty, their quirkiness, their inner lives-and that process helps me to see them, to be mindful of who they are.' Writing gives me a way to step back from my life and really see it. To watch my kids and let the gratitude flood through my veins."

I especially love the last part of that article. It describes how I have always felt about scrapbooking (when I had time) and so now, that life is crazier-blogging is putting that all back in my life for me (when I can squeeze it in)! I just love that there is this solution to communicating with friends and family and also keeping track of my family's memories. Initially, we started this blog to help spread the word about our adoption efforts, but I was surprised to discover that it is becoming so much more than that! It is awesome!