What "off track" looks like at our house.....

My kids are creative. Not sure where that came from-must have been Casey. I am the furthest thing from creative. Shaylee loves nothing more than a fun project with the little kids-building huts, making some random craft, anything to have a little fun. I am trying really hard to relax and enjoy the little moments-when these projects are going on things get quite messy. I naturally see the mess but am trying so hard to see the beauty.

A few days ago she took Sawyer & Jaycee in her room with a pile of paper plates, a roll of paper towels, glue, yarn, markers & construction paper. A few hours later we have this under our little Christmas trees upstairs:

They are baby Jesus! They look like a taco but they aren't! He (times 3!) is even in a manger complete with straw.

SO...yesterday was the best. Our living room became an airplane. So funny. The steering wheel really turns (not really sure an airplane has a steering wheel but nobody tell my kids!) and they have an "earpiece" to communicate with the tower.
These are the seats to the airplane-complete with a few passengers. Sawyer is the pilot-Shaylee, Jaycee & my cute nephew Easton are the passengers.
They were super disappointed when I wouldn't serve them lunch on the airplane-it was ramen-not gonna happen! I did laugh and actually left the living room an airplane until today. Good times.

Feeling Appreciated

Does anyone out there know about my diet coke addiction??? Not only do I love diet coke-I love diet coke from The Coke Store aka The Holiday in South Jordan with crushed ice. Being a regular customer is sometimes embarassing-running into everyone there is hilarious-it's just a part of my day. A diet coke from the fridge just isn't the same.

SO....today I went in thinking it would be just like every other day. I was so wrong. You hear about customer appreciation days-I think they went a little far this time. But it made my day. And kept me laughing. I'm still laughing. Hope you find your name on a coke machine somewhere. Makes the "problem" all worth it! ;)

(FYI-they DO NOT KNOW MY NAME!!!! It really was a coiincidence. Let's not make it worse than it is! My friend who is a dental hygienist leaves me messages with the employees to floss my teeth thinking she's funny-and she is-but they really don't know me THAT WELL! I tried to explain to the employees that my name is Joy and how funny it was to me-they didn't even laugh. Oh well.)

Spelling Tests

Way to go Sawyer! 100% on your spelling test is ALWAYS a good thing. The only problem....he spelled his name wrong! ;) Still laughing about it.

What's For Dinner At Your House???

It's been one of those weeks. I hope you moms know what I am talking about. Not gonna bore you with all the excuses HOWEVER let me just say Jaycee has been sick-NOPE-it's not strep-ask my pediatrician-we went there twice this week. It's a virus. I hate that answer. Whatever.

For some reason when a kid is sick I lose focus. The house gets crazy. I hang out in sweats more. Dinner loses it's priority. I know I made enchiladas on Sunday. Can't remember what we had on Monday. On Tuesday we had lemon chicken & rice. Lastnight I made a loaf of banana bread-my sister in law mentioned she made us some-I can't make banana bread. (We were excited to get the real thing from my sister in law today! Love you, Heather!) Sadly-yep-that was our dinner. Casey needs a support group-poor dude. It's 6:15 and I haven't even thought about dinner. But Sawyer has. Here is his request...he handed it to me while I was on the phone:

Translation: Grilled cheese/those puffy cheeto thingys (Chester's Puffcorn-cheese flavored)/diet coke/fry sauce-doesn't everyone eat grilled cheese dipped in fry sauce like Casey & my psycho kids??? SICK! NASTY! WRONG!

Time to get it together. Why do we have to eat dinner every single day? EVERY SINGLE FLIPPIN DAY??? All I can say is that from the looks of things I should be getting a tip. Sawyer thinks I am his waitress.

Costco

SO yesterday I had to go to Costco. I needed dishwasher soap. The only thing I ever use is the Electrasol Tabs-super convenient and they work great. I thought I had another tub of them in my food storage-I always do-somehow I didn't. The only thing I had was liquid dishwasher soap and it seems to be working just fine. Sadly the only coupon I had was for liquid Cascade so I decided to buy that....always up for a new adventure.

I picked up the Cascade and then noticed there was a Kirkland brand. Cascade was $8.99 for 1 bottle but I had a coupon for $2 so that would make the bottle $6.99. HOWEVER the Kirkland dishwasher soap had 2 bottles the exact same size as the Cascade for 9.67ish. Killer deal. Does it work good? Not sure. But it would be nice to have 2 bottles-1 for upstairs and 1 for food storage. Decisions, decisions. Casey always gets mad when I buy cheap stuff-but is Kirkland cheap? It was stressing me out.

I picked up the Cascade. Then put it back and grabbed the Kirkland. Then put it back and grabbed the Cascade. I was driving myself NUTS.

I didn't notice the man in the driveable shopping cart that was trying to drive between me and the dishwasher soap. The bald old man that looked harmless. He all of a sudden gave me a very crusty look and just stared at me. I didn't know what to say so I said, "Are you ok?" His grumpy response as he is STILL STARING AT ME was, "YES! Are You?" The only thing that came to mind was kill him with kindness so I put on the biggest fake smile I could muster and in a super sugary voice said, "I am great! Thanks!" He mumbled "I highly doubt that" and drove past me. He barely missed my toe. I honestly wanted to crash into him with my cart or dump him off his snazzy driveable shopping cart. Jerk.

But I didn't. I did laugh and make fun of him with a few customers who observed the whole thing. I felt like I was in high school. I had to make it crystal clear that he was the jerk-that it was totally normal to be indecisive when you are making a huge purchase like I was-which dishwasher soap to buy was life and death.

If you are heading to Costco-watch out for my friend. Tell him hello. Give him a hug. I wish I could go back and offer to buy him a hot dog and a smoothie for his stress. I hope I never treat someone like that! Life is just too short. I'm sure he was sort of justified. Stay away from me when I shop~I might make you grumpy!

Beautiful is......

Lastnight I picked Shaylee up from Activity Days. Let me just start by saying that Shaylee is awesome. I'm not saying that because I am her mom-she really is-I believe Heavenly Father sent her to me so I can learn from her. She has so much to offer. She is completely selfless. Very thoughtful. She makes birthday banners for everyone in our family on their birthday-she even made one for herself one year. Pathetic-I know. I totally felt like mother of the year that year! She's like a 10 year old social worker. She loves to be a helper to kids at school that have it rough-she's always befriending a foster kid or the handicapped kids. She blows me away. Family Night when Shay is in charge? Watch out-she's over the top. Truly amazing girl.

SO...back to picking her up from Activity Days....here's our conversation:

Shay: "Mom-I love my Activity Day leader. She is so so so beautiful."

Me: "That's cool Shay. She really is pretty."

Shay: "Ya. You are pretty too, mom. But it IS way more important to be pretty on the inside. That's what you are."

Take that.

I already feel like I am looking at a fun house mirror every day-what the crap happened? Little chubby? Gray hair? Hello!? Now I know what my 10 year old thinks....

I still love Shay. I really do. I might just add a few minutes to my morning treadmill time-maybe get a pedicure even though it FREAKS ME OUT to have people (especially ones that don't speak a language I understand) touch my feet-and even though I am SUPER CHEAP about keeping up on my hair color maybe it's time to splurge. Any positive suggestions are welcome.

What True Love Looks Like.....

I am not a photographer. Never have been-never will be. It's the whole paying attention to details-I don't have the patience for that. This little beauty was at the Tooele Demolition Derby that Casey & I attended Saturday. The car drove away as I was snapping the picture so I didn't get what I wanted in my picture. If someone else-anyone else-took the picture you would be able to see that this fella painted "I Love Rach" on the side of his car with a huge yellow heart. Sweet....

For sure he loves her. A lot.

I've been married for almost 15 years. Casey is awesome. He works hard. He loves his crazy wife and his 4 kids that make us tired. We are so lucky to have him. He does a lot of sweet things for me. He's not the kind of guy that thinks to randomly bring home flowers BUT if he knows I've had a rough day he'll grab me a diet coke and a treat. He's super fun and comes to the grocery store with me and helps me cook dinner so he can visit with me. I love being married to my best friend. He makes me laugh every day.

My question is this-what does Rach look like? What does "fella" look like? I'd like to see this reality show. I know relationships are different and there are all kinds of good marriages. Being at ANY fair makes for great people watching-being at a demolition derby increases the quality of the people watching atleast a few notches-we sat by some doozies! I had a hard time watching the cars crash into eachother because there was too much entertainment in the stands...Pretty sure watching Rach & fella could be kinda fun. Not every guy paints the love of his life's name on the side of his car-especially when it's about to get crashed into. Does he love Rach or is it a joke? Do you paint your ex's name on your car if it's gonna get crashed into? The whole thought just makes me laugh! I'm positive Fella & Rach have been photographed at Walmart together.....

KiNdErGaRtEn for the 4th time.......

Jaycee with some of her cute friends in her class-it's going to be so much fun for her!
Jaycee with her super cute friend Kennedy-I love this kid almost as much as I love Jaycee! ;)
Jaycee sporting her brand new Twinkle Toes-they're the latest thing! ;) and her super huge back pack.

Ahhh...the baby of your family is always such a life changing experience. I remember the day Jaycee was born-it was the last time I would ever meet my new baby and spend precious moments in the hospital staring at my new miracle. She has represented lots of lasts in life. There was NOTHING sad about the last time I bought a package of diapers or the last time we went for kindergarten shots. I wish the last time I sent a child to kindergarten was like buying that last package of diapers! ;)

I knew this day was coming and knew it would be bittersweet. I know Jaycee will thrive in kindergarten. I know it's going to be so good for her. Her kindergarten teacher told me when she took her baby to the 1st day of kindergarten she sobbed in her car for a few minutes and realized she could go to the mall by herself. I know that a-ha moment will hit me also. Right now it's just weird and lonely-I miss my buddy! The school provided cookies & kleenex and I was super grateful for them! The only other thing I needed was a diet coke! haha I have to admit I cry on the first day of school for each of my kids. I'll probably do the same thing when they go to college. I think they are awesome and it makes me emotional to see them start a new grade and realize they are growing up. It's all happening so fast!

As for Jaycee-she's super ticked right now that she can't have Mrs Karren. She loves her. But I know she has an amazing teacher and will change her tune with time. She's got spunk and loves to learn and is surrounded by so many fun friends from our neighborhood! It's going to be a great year.....

The other kids 1st day of school pics? Didn't happen. Alyssa left for Oakcrest on their 1st day of school and had our camera. Dangit. They are loving school & have amazing teachers, also. Here we go!

Midvale Justice Court

I know you think just the title of this post sounds like fun. I did, too. It's where I had to go to pay my ticket. The ticket I got on my way to girls camp. Not anywhere glorious like Heber where camp actually was...I got my ticket in beautiful Midvale just trying to get to the freeway. I was super thrilled. So were the 2 young women in my car. One of them even told me she always wanted to be with someone when they got a ticket-so glad I was the one to fulfill her dream! ;)

SO I had to call after 5 days but before 14 days or I could have a warrant for my arrest. I made a phone call Monday to pay my ticket-I had my Visa all ready as I dialed the phone-I found out from that conversation I had to COME IN TO THE COURT to pay the ticket. Seriously???? And if I wanted to sign up for traffic school I could do that at the same time...it will only cost $25 in addition to the $90 I got to pay them for my speeding episode.

Alyssa is away at Oakcrest and Shaylee & Sawyer are in school so I decided that I would take Jaycee and get this taken care of today. We drove to Midvale-found the court-as soon as I entered I felt really weird. There had to be 75 people in the room and Jaycee & I were the only English speaking people there. That's sort of an exaggeration because there was a translator for the cop who was instructing the heard of people how to go thru the metal detector on their way into the courtroom. I waited in line to talk to a super sweet hispanic clerk-she was really nice-she laughed with me about my ticket and the opportunity I have to attend "Drivers Awareness School" any Tuesday in the next month. Jaycee for whatever reason decided to show off her Spanish skills she learned in preschool and started to count (of course not quietly) in Spanish. The sweet clerk said, "You go girl! You know Spanish!" Jaycee said, "Ya-I learned it in preschool." Super funny. My interpretation of the whole thing is I felt out of place because I couldn't understand anything anyone was saying and couldn't talk to any of them like I am known to do when I am around strangers....Jaycee took care of it for me. She had it all under control. What a funny girl!

Can't wait to return to Midvale to learn how not to speed. It's gonna be a blast. I hope they have an translator for me because after today I am sure I am going to need one. ;)

Another Not So Great Mom Moment....

It's always great when you feel like you are failing as a mom to your own kids....then you have someone else's kid in your care and you mess up....not so good!

Yesterday Shaylee had her cute friend Kylie & her cute friend MaKena playing. Infact, all of my kids had friends coming & going. The momentum of the day was cRaZy and I had to have Kylie home at 6:30. We dropped Kylie off just in the knick of time and MaKena wanted to come school shopping at Kohls with us. We shopped for a little while, Shaylee found the perfect first day of school outfit, and we started to head home. When we got into the car MaKena said, "Do you think we could have an eatover?" I looked at the clock-it said 8:00. P.M. Oops! Thank goodness Casey had made some ramen for the rest of our neglected kids and there was a little left over for Shaylee & Makena.

When the rest of you moms that have it all together are making your dinner plans please text me to make sure I didn't forget. Thanks.

Dear Awesome Sister In Laws

I am FINALLY participating in the recipe blog.....what a dang slacker I am! My recipes are all the chubby kind but I'll try to be better about posting recipes~it really is fun to have them all in one place! Love you all! ;)

Ensign Peak

We hiked Ensign Peak with our incredible young women Wednesday night. It was raining when we arrived-stopped for our hike-and then there was a complete downpour as we reached the parking lot. Small blessings!?

The view of the beautiful Salt Lake valley....
Our amazing young women~I think they are just awesome!!! Even super windblown they are beautiful!
SO grateful I get to work with such amazing women-I have learned so much from each one of them and still have a ton to learn from them. They have been such a blessing in my life! ;)

Sawyer Brown

Casey & I were invited to go out to Wendover to see Sawyer Brown last Friday with our awesome friends Chris & Keri...we OF COURSE had so dang much fun! Great company-awesome entertainment-and crazy people in Wendover....

Keri & I both hate seafood & I don't love buffets SO the guys went on a hot date to the Seafood Buffet while Keri & I enjoyed our steak & cheese enchiladas in the restaurant.....Casey & Chris smuggled some dessert out for us because that is always too hard to resist-that many desserts behind one piece of glass??? Dang!
Casey & I...of course there is a funny story with this picture....we picked Casey up from work on our way out and his truck wasn't there-someone took it to take a delivery and his clothes were in it. Good thing he had a dang sexy Good Year shirt sitting on his desk to wear on our hot date! :) The guy cracks me up.
Chris & Keri-he's always up to something. ;)
The one and only Mark Miller. Still amazing. Still dang funny. Love the dude.
Casey's view THE.WHOLE.TIME. This woman was unbelievable. She had to be 60. She was disgusting-had no rhythm whatsover but thought she had some great Sawyer Brown moves-she even caught Mark Miller's attention and he made fun of her. Keri & I laughed our butts off at her for the first 20 minutes-wanted to strangle her the rest of the time. So much for people watching being fun...it really can get old if it's planted right in front of you! ;)

Play Ball!!!!

Sawyer started baseball and it has been so much fun to watch! He played t ball when he was really little and is an awesome soccer player but there's something about baseball that is so dang fun! Might be because I loved watching his awesome dad play when we were young!? ;)

I thought this was so cute-their coach Kelly is awesome! He coached Shaylee in soccer and is such a great coach.
LOVE THIS PIC! Casey is helping coach the team. Sawyer loves Casey and has so much to learn from him. He is an awesome dad and an awesome baseball player! So glad Sawyer has such a neat dad to look up to.

Sawyer's Field Trip

The big field trip for Kindergarten is the zoo. They look forward to it all year long. Sawyer really has talked about it since the beginning of the year. The field trip was Tuesday and it rained THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE THERE. Not kidding. So cold. So wet. Every animal that you could see inside a building stunk worse than ever-the giraffes, the monkeys, the reptile house. YUCK! However-my cute son who loves animals was in heaven. Funny how seeing life thru your child's eyes can help your attitude. It was truly a fun day!

I planned on meeting Sawyer at the zoo and bringing Jaycee. Jaycee did not want to go because it was too far-can you say high maintenance? The kid cracks me up. And Sawyer was super nervous about riding a school bus on the freeway without a seatbelt. I became aware of this Monday night so my awesome friend kept Jaycee & I rode the bus with Sawyer-problem solved! So lucky it all worked out-it was great to be with him on his very first ride on a school bus!
Squishing under the pavilion to dry off a little and eat lunch.
Ethan, Luke, Sawyer & Caleb with the elephants. Silly boys! (I really did try to convince Sawyer to wear his warm coat-he insisted on his jacket and never complained that he was wetter than he needed to be! Just defending myself as the mom! ;) )

Shaylee's Field Trip

My cute Shay had a field trip at This Is The Place....I was pretty hesitant about going...it gets stressful to find people to watch the other kids...she insisted that I come and I'm so glad that she did! We had a great time-she's just awesome!

Riding the big yellow school bus feels crazier the older I get-it wasn't a big deal when I was young-now I know about traffic and blind spots etc......funny....it was fun to be with Shaylee & the kids & the noise, though! ;)
Shaylee & friends pulling a handcart
Learning The Virginia Reel....they were SO FUNNY about this....not wanting to dance with the boys (the feeling was mutual-the boys were being dorks about it!) but once they quit giggling and tried it they had so much fun.
Going to school-their teacher was so cool! I loved the feeling she portrayed of what it was really like-one room school houses, discipline, and going to school with kids that are every age. We've come so far with education!

Coolest.Thing.Ever.

I love caramel. Not a chocolate lover-but caramel seriously makes me happy. Lastnight I learned something that changed my life....get ready for it to change yours. Did you know that if you take a simple can of sweetened condensed milk-remove the label-and boil it in the can for 3 hours it turns to caramel? Well, it does. And it's yummy. And you should try it. SO good on ice cream-it's good all by itself, too. Amazing, I know. The hardest part is making sure the water covers the can while it boils-I had to add water to the pan a few times. I'm glad I put 2 cans in there because our awesome friend's Brian & Erin stopped by and they were in awe. They loved it. Brian wants to go to work and share the recipe with all the guys. He's just like that. ;)

FYI-this is after we all devoured it-not much left-but proof that it works!

Need some marriage advice?

Apparently Casey & I were having a conversation the other day while I was in our bedroom and he was in the kitchen....we couldn't hear eachother and kept saying "What?".....this is sounding like we are 76 instead of 36, right?

Casey said to Jaycee, "Your mom drives me crazy."

Jaycee's reply...."Well, you just have to get her to love somebody else."

Need any marriage advice? Ask Jaycee. She's the new Dr Laura....

3 Super Brave Boys!

I say all the time how lucky we are to live where we do-we really love our neighborhood, our ward, & our school. We ALL have been blessed with awesome friendships! Sawyer has so many buddies his age and they are all such fun kids. Today after school Sawyer's friends Aiden & Tyler came over to play. They were playing in our backyard and suddenly started to scream all at the same time-you'd think they were three little girls that just saw a ghost! Close-they found a snake....good thing we have Shaylee...she LOVES creepy crawly things and came to their rescue. Made me laugh so hard-when they are big bad teenage boys I will tease them about this!

They had to parade the snake around the neighborhood...so funny! Sawyer told Aiden's mom, "This is the best day ever! Pizza and a snake all in one day!" (They got to eat pizza for lunch at school to practice for 1st grade!)
I think it's funny now but I had NO IDEA we could possibly have snakes in our yard-I'm already a freak about weeding because of spiders and bees-my yard just might be worse this year than ever thanks to this little incident! ;)

The chef is at it again....

I decided to make a batch of cookies tonight-when I opened my cupboard to pull out my Bosch I spotted this little beauty. It has Jaycee written all over it. I asked her if she knew anything about it. She smirked and shrugged her shoulders. I pushed a little harder and she finally confessed:

"I thought if I added some sugar and put it in the microwave it would look better."

If I could only get inside her mind. This is sorta funny....So I ask, "How long did you cook it?"

"Five-Zero-Start."

Oh dear. My next question, "When did you do this?"

"Today."

I'm of course dying to ask the next question....."Did you taste it?"

"NO! It looked disgusting!"

My last question...."Why did you hide it in the cupboard Jaycee?"

"Cuz I didn't wanted to get in trouble!"

Dang! The big blessing here is that it happened today and I found it today~could have been a terrible situation. She hides everything in the cupboards-my keys, the cordless phone (that's always fun when it's ringing but you can't for the life of you find it and it's in the cupboard-of course it is-first place you should always look when you want to answer the phone!), toys-it's all a game to her. We're gonna have to be a little on guard and be checking the cupboards daily-she loves to cook crazy things and now hides them if they don't look like she wants. Maybe we need a don't use the microwave without supervision rule? Not gonna get the mother of the year award but I sure am grateful to be a mom--these kids keep me on my toes and make life so rewarding! Anyone hungry for a tasty snack? I'll save it for you!

Lunch for my almost 5 year old

After we dropped Sawyer off at kindergarten today I took a call on my cell phone. I of course continued to talk to my friend on my cell phone when we got home. Jaycee brought me a can of peaches-I opened them without even thinking about it. I heard her scuffling around the kitchen and then heard the microwave beep that something was done. She put some chow mein noodles on her plate-then cheese-then peaches and zapped them in the microwave for a few, or maybe more than a few, who knows...I certainly wasn't paying attention! ;) I am pretty sure she was shooting for a Hawaiian Haystack-you know-chow mein noodles, rice, chicken, cheese, sauce, PINEAPPLE (not peaches) a little coconut...we love those for dinner around here. She swears her own version was super yummy, not sure I will ever know. Seriously so funny to me she didn't make a PB&J or even a bowl of cereal. Maybe someday she'll be a chef! Anyone for peaches with cheese and the crunchy goodness of chow mein noodles? Come on...be brave! LOL

Hard Times and Holy Places

Wow!!! It's been awhile...life has been cRaZy around this house-so much to do and so little time! I feel like I am beginning to understand the expression "A day late and a dollar short"-that is my life! Always running behind and realizing how valuable a dollar really is and how many times you need the same dollar each day! ;) I am grateful for my awesome little family, though. The busy-ness they bring to my life makes my life rewarding. I really am so blessed!

I blogged a few months ago about Time Out For Women. It was an incredible experience that I got to share with some awesome friends from my ward. Loved it! It was there that I first heard a woman named Kris Belcher speak and I was AMAZED! The woman has been thru so much and her testimony and sense of humor are incredible! My life was changed just from hearing her speak. Among so many other things I realized while hearing her speak I became so grateful for my eyesight...such a blessing that I have honestly never thought about. I can't imagine not being able to see Casey or our kids or anything around me-what a blessing it is to see the beautiful temple and the world we live in. Since then I have bought her book as a gift for a few friends-it's called Hard Times and Holy Places. Every single time I have bought it I have wanted a copy for myself but decided to wait. Funny how meaningful a gift is when you give it to someone else and long for one for yourself. My awesome friend Erin bought it for me for my birthday...the funny thing is I had just left Seagull with 2 copies for 2 friends that very day!!! I was so grateful for it and have absolutely LOVED reading it. If any of you would like to borrow it come by and grab it-be sure to check out her blog-I added the link to my blog today. Your life will be changed also. She is a beautiful person with a beautiful testimony-a blessing to each one of us who will take the time to "know" her-someday I'd love to go to lunch with her or something. It'd probably freak her out if I showed up at her house-dang it! I'll have to be a little more subtle about my new friendship....

Turning 36 wasn't soooo bad!

I seriously have been dreading this birthday...not sure what it is...life is just going too dang fast and I would LOVE to be able to freeze time for a little while~my kids are all at fun ages and life just feels good. Busy-but good! I have to say I wasn't aware I needed a day to be loved by so many great friends-I am so blessed! I know I'm outgoing and crazy BUT being center of attention isn't my thing...HOWEVER...all the sweet simple things people did for me yesterday really meant a ton. Casey is so awesome and made the day great-roses & a dang funny card to start off the day, bbq steak & his "famous cheese fries" as the kids call them to finish it off. It really was a great day.

Jaycee, Sawyer & Madalyn licking the frosting off the candles!
My vote was 1 or 2 candles-Shay thought I needed all 36-I was grateful for all of the help to blow them out! ;)
My awesome little family-my life!!! (And cute Madalyn)

Define Popular!

Jaycee is sitting at our kitchen table eating a peanut butter sandwich WAY too close to dinner time....she says, "Mom, you know London on Zach & Cody? She is popular and she wears cute clothes."

Seriously? Never seen Zach & Cody-I guess it's time to check it out. How does my 4 year old know the word POPULAR??? I think this is the 3rd conversation we've had this week involving this word.

Happy Birthday Casey!

For Casey's birthday this year we had family over and just hung out-it was a great day! We had my parents out for Papa Murphys pizza and then Casey's family & Clint & Melinda and kids out for cake & ice cream. It was great to have a mellow day with family-we are so blessed to have eachother and to have so much support. At the end of the day Casey was grateful for such a fun birthday-I think he's awesome!

Cammi & Jaycee playing air hockey.
Hanging out and playing the wii.

I know we are missing 35 candles but 1 was much easier and who wants wax on your cake?
Shaylee and Nicalee
Silly faces-Sawyer, Jaycee, Carver & Madalyn

Company Christmas Party

Casey's company started doing their Christmas party in January-it's so much easier!!! This year it was at Wheeler Farm and they had a cowboy theme. It was catered by Goodwood (YUMMY!), we got our pics taken, and the entertainment was great. Casey works for and with great people so it's always fun to go to the party and be able to see everyone. This year Casey got Employee Of The Year....I am so proud of him! He totally deserves it (I am sure a few others deserve it also which makes it even cooler that Casey was chosen!)-he has been working long hours and going above and beyond what is expected. I miss having him around when the days get long but especially in this day I feel grateful that they are busy! I feel blessed that Casey is such a hard worker and great provider-he really takes care of our family.

Is hell REALLY that bad of a word???

I have to admit...Oh My Hell is probably my favorite thing to say. Maybe I am rebellious or something but it always makes me giggle. Can't believe I am admitting this....I've had moments when I've tried to not say it but I will probably still be saying it when I am 100. Maybe even on "the other side"....it's who I am and I think it's funny. Not sure why-can't remember when it started-not a great quality, I am sure. Joy=Coke Store and Hell...do you think this means something??

SO lastnight we were hanging out in the kitchen and Shaylee was tattling on Sawyer. Apparently on Saturday when her cute friend MaKenna was here playing (You might not want to read this Brian & Erin...sorry...you're taking your chances letting your kids play at my house! LOL) MaKenna asked Sawyer if he had ever played some game on the computer-his response was "What the hell is that?" I instantly started to laugh and couldn't stop-Sawyer put his head down and said, "It was on accident!"-and thank heavens Casey, the mature adult/dad was able to handle this...here is what he had to say:

"I wonder where you heard something like that!? Did you hear that from mom? I can just hear mom saying that all day long!"

It only made me laugh harder-Casey was laughing-I guess the teaching moment passed because our kids saw us laughing instead of taking the situation serious....Poor kids that were sent to this house to be taught and helped thru this life! Hopefully they will find examples of the right things to say in other people that are placed in their path! ;)

Family Night

I hate to admit that Family Night sometimes feels like a chore-not because it's not a good thing but because I am usually not prepared. It's the little few & far between moments in my kids lives (like when their primary teachers tell me they are surprised my kids knew the answer to something or they knew a scripture story)that I realize that even though they seem to be crazy and not listening-they really are-so it's worth it. My kids are off track and it's a brand new year ;) so I had Shaylee break out her Faith In God book-we of course are going to be better this year!!! LOL To pass off a goal she needed to learn about someone from the Book of Mormon that showed faith SO we got out our scriptures and read about the Brother of Jared. We read and talked about the story for about 30 minutes-my favorite scripture ever is Ether 2:25 so I had the opportunity to share with her why I love that scripture-then she was going to teach family night. I knew she would do a good job but I had no idea how amazed we would be....here are some pics of her lesson (she did this all on her own!)

The Brother of Jared-the "barge", the animals, and the clear stones (I didn't remember she got these on our vacation to Yellowstone!!!)
After the Lord touched the stones they were shining with light (My camera must have a good flash-you can't tell she had Jaycee turn off the light for this part-it really was cool!)......
AND Alyssa made some awesome brownies!!!

I think I LOVE family night now...can't wait for next week! ;) It's so nice to have these pinprick moments with my little family-to feel the Spirit, to see my kids' testimonies and to be taught my them. They truly are amazing!

Happy New Year!

I honestly think New Years Eve is my favorite holiday-good food, good friends, good laughs AND new beginnings-I love the opportunity to reflect on the year I've had and think of the year to come!! We hung out with our good friends Brian & Erin & their way fun friends Lance & Amy and had so much fun. The kids all got along great and Casey & I got our butts kicked at every game we played! Dang it! We played a game that told you how compatible you are-Casey & I get along great & have an awesome marriage but we are as opposite as you can get in every single way-so funny we TOTALLY lost that game-good times!

Jaycee & Easton-these 2 really are in love-best friends, they hold hands-so cute!
Silly string.....SURPRISE!!
In the January Ensign there is an AWESOME article by Elder Jeffrey R Holland called "The Best Is Yet To Be"-such a neat article!!! I wanted to share a quote from it that was so powerful to me as I think of 2010 and the rest of my life.....

"The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives."

Such an incredible quote from an incredible man!!! I love my life-I love who I have become and who I CAN become. I am grateful for every opportunity and person from my past-blessings I really do feel gratitude for. However it's mind boggling to think of what lies ahead...opportunities and people and experiences that will mold me into who I am supposed to be. We live in such uncertain times-it's reassuring to know that our Heavenly Father is still in charge and that we truly are prepared for what lies ahead...we are strong enough. That is faith......such a powerful tool & blessing!

Christmas 2009

I always love a picture of our complete Christmas BEFORE the kids get to it......
Our "family gift" this year was an air hockey table-it's been a ton of fun!!!
Shay got a new pet-she wanted a guinea pig-she got a turtle-way less maintenance, not so creepy if he escapes...guinea pigs really do remind me of a mouse-NO THANKS! ;) She's happy-his name is Max!