A little of this, a little of that. Part 2

At the end of March the kids had to leave their school at Entheos.  This is Sam and Ammon's classes just before we had to leave.  We were sad to leave and it was a hard thing for the kids to do.  We loved Entheos!  Their last day was a discovery recital.  I promised the kids that we would stay till then.  I don't have pictures because they didn't turn out.  Bella did dancing like a star, Ammon did improve comedy, and Sam's class wrote and put on a play.  I love the discovery program and it is what I and the kids will miss the most.  It was a sad day, and we miss the school.  The kids did o.k. adjusting to their new school.  It is actually a good school and some of them have already made new friends.  They end earlier, so that is a plus for my kids.

This is a candid picture I love, that Al took at our old ward house.  I want to print it and hang it.  To me it's like saying, "don't look back, just look forward to the future with faith.  You will have others there to help you".  Or, "families can be together for ever."  I love it, and am grateful Al thought to take out his phone and capture it.

Gideon is now walking and doing quite good at it now.  He started about 14mo.  Here is a video of him walking.

Here's my little sunflower.  Joshy was able to take a prekindergarten class they off for free here in Tooele.  It is a 6 week course that helps them get ready for kindergarten.  He is done now but it gave him something to look forward to.  This is something he made his first day. 

Our new garage door!  We were glad to get this finally as we were not able to open and shut our garage door.  The sad thing is that it would have been a lot cheaper had I not accidently run into it.  I thought I put the car in park, and I turned to look at the kids or something, and the van slowly ran into the garage.  I didn't even realize it was moving till I heard a loud crunch.  Oh Man!  I was soooo upset!  Oh well now it's fixed and it's so exciting to have a garage door that goes up and down with the touch of a button.  We have never had that our whole married life.  The little things we get excited over.

One last thing I would like to add is that Al and I just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.  There have been some ups and downs.  But over all it has been great!  I love you Al!  We have been blessed with 5 wonderful children, and we have always been taken care of by a loving Heavenly Father.  It hasn't been easy, at times we have really had to work at it, but that is what makes us grow and love each other even more.

a little of this, alittle of that. Part 1

So I found my camara again!  Yes it was missing for abt. 2 months.  Ammon found it in his closet.  Don't ask why it was there, because nobody knows.  It was fun to see pictures on there from Christmas, Gideon's birthday and discovery recitals.  Oh the fun of pictures.  Now I need to find an inexpencive way to print some of them.  I haven't print hardly any pictures for the past 6 years.  Lately it's made me kinda sad to think that I just can't go to an album and flip through my pictures.  I have to go my computer and turn it on and go to a certain file to look at my pictures.  To even just print the important ones to me would cost a fortune at this point.  Dose anyone know of an easy inexpensive way to have pictures print?  Any suggestions?

Al went all out and bought a bunch of baseball equipment with his birthday money.  He as been teaching the boys some techniques this spring.  They have all enjoyed the bonding experience.  Even Gideon loves to get in on the action.


It was fun to do Easter at our new house.  We hid the eggs Sat. morning.  I had so much fun hiding the eggs in our house because there were so many options.  The kids had fun looking for them.  Gideon found one egg, and once he realized there was candy in it, that was it.  He just wanted to sit and eat the candy.  Later that day we went to Manda's for dinner and Matt & Evelyn's unafficial wedding.  Manda helped us make windsockets, Marnie helped us make homemade tulips using the kids hands, and I did an Easter lesson.  It was so much fun spending time with family.

I don't know what happened to the video.  But it's all the kids and Grandma running around blowing their homemade windsockets.

Like I said, we had a short ceremony for Matt and Evelyn after the Easter dinner.  It was short, but nice. Melodee led us in a song, Al gave a prayer, Mom gave a talk about going to the temple, then Matt's old bishop and boss married them, and it was done.

Bella's baptism and birthday

Bella turned 8 years old April 13th.  We had a birthday party for her the day after.  I let her invite some girls from her school and church class.  We had a good turn out.  Only one person wasn't able to come.  Such a difference from last year.  She had a rock n' roll party.  Her cake is supposed to be a music note. 

We made paper plate tambourines, played freeze dance, Just dance on the Wii, and karaoke.  The girls had a lot of fun.  They were actually a pretty mild group.  But it was nice for Bella to be able to get to know some more girls better.  Thank You Marnie for all the fun ideas!

Bella was baptized May 5, 2012 in the Tooele North Stake.  It was a beautiful baptism.  We thought nobody would be able to come, but a lot of people were able to come celebrate with us.  The talks that were given were well done.  Especially one done by a 13yr old who bore strong testimony of the importance of baptism.  I was impressed.  Al gave Bella a beautiful blessing, unfortunately it was hard to hear what he was saying because the noise in the room was so loud.  Also people walking outside the room were being noisy.  So I couldn't hear much, but the spirit was still there. 

Grandma Ann took Bella to pick out her baptism dress.  Bella had so much fun trying on all the pretty dresses.  Unfortunately I don't have a full picture of her in her dress so we can see the whole thing.  I will take one next time she wears it so I can post it next time.  It really is beautiful!  Bella did a good job picking it out.  I didn't get much pictures of her baptism.  I'm not very good at making sure these things get done.  Next time I think I will assign someone to take pictures.  I'm always so busy getting things done or ready I don't feel I can stop to take pictures, or don't think of it.

Joshua's Birthday! And the Zoo

Joshua turned 5 last week. I can't believe he is already 5! He is such a good kid (when he wants to be) and we are so greatful he is a part of our family. We had a party at our house and invited family. He wanted a Diego birthday party.
So we played rescue the animals relay race, pin the badge on Diego, and pinata. Joshy said his favorate part was the pinata. He also had fun playing with all his cousins.

Thanks to all who could come!

At the Zoo!

We went to the zoo the last day of Feb. It was a free zoo day. So Myndie, Marnie, a friend of Marnie's, and I all went to the zoo. It was a fun experience and I'm so glad we went. We almost didn't go because it was so windy and cold that day. But once we got to the zoo it wasn't that bad. Thanks to Myndie for letting us know about free zoo day!

We moved!

It has been a busy January. We moved!!! After 7 1/2 yrs in our little apartment. We moved. And we thought we would only be there for 6 months. Ha, Ha. It's funny what life brings you compared to what you want in life. It was a good 7 + years though. We had Joshua and Gideon. Sam, Ammon and Bella went to an awesome school That we loved. We were part of a great ward where we felt like family. We learned a lot, and were humbled a lot. Even with all the job losses, and financial struggles it is a miracle that we were able to stay there so long. Even though there were times I felt cramped and wished we could just move, I feel it a great blessing to have been there so long. We moved into our new house Jan. 11-14. We are actually still moving. Little by little we are getting things from our storage unit and other places. We still don't have pictures, but I'm feeling more settled. It feels good to have so much room. Joshy is having a hard time adjusting. He's scared in our big house, but at the same time he likes it. Gideon took a little bit too, but the rest of them are loving it! I think they love having their own rooms a little too much. Al and I had fun decorating our kitchen. We went to D.I. and found some treasures and then to the dollar store. We went with a country farm kitchen theme. We still need curtains for our kitchen, but that will have to come later. Gideon turned 1 Jan. 4th. But we were so busy getting ready for the move, moving, and getting everything situated that his first party had to wait. We celebrated with family on Jan. 28th. It was our first party here. It was fun to have a party at our own home. It was a lot of work too. Were not used to having parties at our house. Gideon loved his cake so much he licked the plate clean. He is such a joy to have in our family. He is so mellow, and calm (most the time anyway)it is nice to have him around. He still isn't walking, but is realy close. He seems scared to walk. He's just happy getting around crawling like lightning super fast.

Al and I recieved new callings in our new ward. Al is an advisor in the decons quorm and assistant scout master, and I am the 2nd counselor in primary. I'm finding it very difficult being in a leadership position not knowing who anyone is. So I'm learning a new calling and a new ward all at once. I guess this is a good way to get to know who people are fast.

Our New House To Be

Today we had our offer accepted on a house in Tooele. We are very excited to be moving forward toward closing now, rather than still looking for a house. We expect to be moving now within 3-4 weeks. That is if nothing goes wrong along the way, which since this is us we are talking about, who knows what will happen. In other words it's not over until I post the colors on that flag pole. That will mean that it is ours.

Sam's Birthday

Wow! My first born turned 12 yrs old on Oct. 16th 2011. What an important year for him. He recieved the Aaronic preisthood and his first temple recomend on his birthday! What a special birthday! We were able to celebrate in style at Planet Play. They had a ton of fun playing games, eating pizza, and doing various attractions. It was a fun party! Thanks to those who could come to either or both and make it special. For Sam's birthday we gave him a new bike. It was much needed since his last bike was given to him about 5-6 years ago.

Sam also got a friend party at our house. A few friends came and they played capture the flag, maffia, mind games, and ninja. We ate pizza and ice cream and cake. I asked Sam if he wanted a theme. No theme for him. He's getting too big. Sad, Sad. My boy is growing up too fast. It was a fun party though. I think they all had a good time.

Sam is having a lot of first with this birthday. First time going to priesthood session of confrence. First time getting the priesthood. First time going to young mens or scouts. First friend birthday party at our house. First temple recommend. First time going to the temple (we're going there soon, I hope).