Car Seat Slipcover

So I saw one at Porter's and I really needed one. I had tried to buy one at Walmart but it turned out to be too small. I decided I would try to make one myself. It was quite an ordeal. But I do have to say - I think it turned out really nice!!

Changed My Mind

"I changed my mind!" This has become one of Josh's new favorite phrases lately. Every morning when he is supposed to go to school, he screams and cries and throws a fit and says he hates school and doesn't want to go! After much tribulation, we get him on the bus and off to school and when he arrives home 3 hours later (not long enough by the way), he is as happy as can be. So I ask him, "How was school Josh? Did you have fun?" To which he replies, "YES! It was so fun!" And then proceeds to tell me all of the wonderful things he did, what he learned and of course, what they had for snack! So then we talk about his behavior before school, and he says, "I just changed my mind." After which, we had a talk about maybe trying to change his mind BEFORE school instead.

And we figure since our child gets to do it, so should we. :-)
We have decided to switch Lacey and Alivia out of the charter school and back to the neighborhood elementary school. You wouldn't think this would have such a response from people who are not directly involved, so WOW! :-) We are making the change for several reasons, but the biggest one is that the kids need to learn to be friends with the children who live around us. These are the ones they will see at Primary, at Achievement Days, and into middle school. Both girls are a little sad about the change, but I think once they get there and recognize half the student body, they will feel much better. We were recently told by a good friend of ours to "Be permanent." I think this change will help us do that as well. We have a great ward and neighborhood and we are looking foward to a long and happy life here! Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season!!

Ward Christmas Party

I didn't even think about having Kaleb sit on Santa's lap! :-(
Here are the other piglets giving Santa their loooonnnnnggg lists! :-)



And here they all are singing "Glooooooooooooooooria!" The whole primary did a fabulous job!

Cutey Kaleb!

I'm a little late, but hey - life's been a little busy lately. Kaleb is now 6 months old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! He is already turning into such a big boy! He has two teeth on the bottom and I'm pretty sure he's getting one on the top. At his 6 month checkup, he weighed in at 18 lbs 4 oz and 27 in. long!! He is so cute and such a joy - we are so grateful to have him in our family!!

In other news, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving! We were able to spend time with both of our families and it was really nice. My sister-in-law and I even braved Black Friday at Toy's R Us and it was so cold but fun! Played the Wii and Guitar Hero with my fam and even smoked some of the boys! Found a new home decor store (Real Deals) that I absolutely loved! (I think Santa is going to have to spend some more time and $$$ there! :-)) The only bummer of the weekend is that I didn't take any pictures! We had some great times - we'll just have to remember them -freestyle! Now on to Christmas --- SO excited!!! May you all have a wonder holiday season!

Finally Rested

I had been feeling rather unsettled lately and wanted to change things that were way beyond my control to change. So I decided to change what I could - and I am lovin' the outcome!! I should have taken pictures of the before and after but I didn't. I will post the after pictures once I get the decorating of the basement to my liking. In the mean time, I keep reminding myself of the poem:


God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

And my favorite scripture of all time:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3, 5-6

Silly Boy!

Just a couple of fun Joshua stories to share.

We decided to rearrange our house this week, and are moving one of the girls bunk beds up into Josh's room. We fully expected this to be a traumatic experience because, well, he does NOT handle change well. However, to our pleasant surprise, he loves it! He got a new Spider-man blanket to go with it too. Very happy to go to bed last night! :-)

This morning I was "talking" to my mom on the computer and she asked if Josh would talk to her. We were having breakfast at the time, so his response was, "I can't right now because my teeth are very, very busy." (I thought it was cute!)

For lunch today, (after having a sandwich and 2 corn dogs for breakfast), he asked for PB&J. I had to open a new jar and was having a little trouble. Josh assured me I could open it because I had muscles like Super-Man! Which he then had me "flex" for him. So of course after that, I did open it!! It's a good thing he can be so cute sometimes!! Gotta love him!!

Nat'l Blogging Month

So does it count if you blog every other day?!

I just wanted to follow suit of some friends of mine that have been blogging about what they are thankful for. I think it's important to think about what you're grateful for more than just one day a year.

So here are some things I am thankful for (in no particular order):

The gospel - I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ and all they have done for me.

I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

My husband - he is so good to me and to our family and he still makes me laugh.

My babies - no matter how old they are getting, they will always be my babies. They are always surprising me and making my life interesting.

Good friends - you can always get by with a little help from your friends.

That's good for now, but I will try to write more for this month's special occasion.

Happy Halloween!

We had a lot of fun this year for Halloween! The kids all had parties in their classrooms and their school also had a big carnival the night before. We carved great pumpkins and went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Lots of fun had by all! Hope you did too!

Family Photos

We loved the Taylor's pics so much, we asked Mary if she could do our families too. She did a fabulous job!!

I think she did a great job of capturing the true personality and spirit of each of the kids!

Pioneer Park was so beautiful - the fall colors, the rock formations, the water falls, and the river - just the perfect spot! Thanks again Mary!!

Crazy Hair Day

This week has been DARE week at school. Yesterday was crazy sock day and today was crazy hair day. Tomorrow is a no dress code day - yeah! (Note the sarcasm.)

Cute Kids

I took these a couple of weeks ago and decided that I have too cute of children not to share them with all of you!KalebJoshuaAliviaLacey

Very Educational!

I just took the kids to the dollar store and let them each pick out one thing. Alivia comes walking up with a tray of fake money. I said, "Livie, why would you want to get a fake money?" Her response was, "It can be a great educational opportunity." Huh?!

Fall? Really?

I know it's supposed to be fall and everything, but it still feels like summer! Love it! I'll take the heat any day! We've been traveling like it's still summer too. We went down to South Salt Lake for my friend, Catherine's wedding.

She was very proud of her comfortable shoes! We also spent some time at a park in Ogden.

Love this picture of my kids!! This past weekend we went down to Logan so Scott could golf and I could hang out with my sister. She and I took all of our kids, with no husbands, to Heritage Farm. We totally lucked out with it being FREE that day! the kids had sooo much fun.


The kids got to ride ponies, ride a train, jump off hay towers, go in a blackout maze, get lost in a corn maze, slide down a giant slide, throw hatchets, play on a hay bail pirate ship, chase chickens and eat a dutch oven dinner! It was an exhausting, but fun trip!!




Let's hope this weather last for at least another month - maybe two --- what do you think?! :-)

School Begins!

Well they've been back to school for 2 weeks now but still...

Lacey's first day of 4th Grade

Alivia's First day of 2nd Grade


Joshua's first day of 4-year-old Preschool!

Kaleb at 3 months old! He loves to sit up like a big boy!!

Four Kids + Lots of Stuff Always Going On = Lots Of Fun!!

Whirlwind Vacation

We have had a very busy past couple of weeks, Chuck E Cheese's, IF Chukars game, Bear Lake, Lagoon, etc.. Here is the photo synopsis...

Josh wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday! Idaho Falls Chukars vs. Ogden Raptors Soda Springs GeyserSwimming in Bear Lake
Minnetonka Cave - 888 steps!! LAGOON!! Thank you soooo much Ellie!!

And to top it all off, here is a quote from one of my most favorite YW leaders in Colorado, Patti Merrill, which I love and have decided to make my new motto:

"I believe that we make ourselves feel worse, not better, by dwelling on the negative! If you're feeling bad, focus on something good and you'll feel better. If it's always raining, take ...time to notice how green everything is! "Man is that he might have joy!" I believe we have a responsibility to find that joy!"

Here's hoping that we can all find joy in our lives no matter what our circumstances may be.