Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great day! This is my favorite time of the year. I am so thankful for so many things in my life. If you haven't already, think about all the goodness in your life and express appreciation for it! Until next year, Count your many blessings...name them one by one!

Daily Thanksgiving

So my pitty party is over. I know that if I focus on the abundance of good in my life, the crappy stuff will still exist BUT it won't seem so overwhelming. So here goes. Each day I will seek out the things that I am truly thankful for. I will post my daily thanksgiving on my side bar. I challenge everyone to do the same.

Recognize it, acknowledge it, record it somewhere, and share it!
"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.” (D&C 78:19)

Lifting Burdens

I love how the Lord knows what my spirit needs at all times. What a comfort to my soul that He knows me. I've been kind of down lately, wishing my life would slow down bit. OK maybe down isn't the right word. Just bummed out...Questioning choices and wondering if I'm doing all I can and should do. I happened upon this video and it has renewed my spirit and spoke peace to my soul. I know that my burdens will be made light through Him. I know that God lives and loves ME!

My Eyes are a Faucet these Days!

I don't know what it is but it seems every year at about this time, I have a slight break down. Maybe it's all the stress of a new school year or realizing how fast my kids are growing up or realizing how much I miss my mom or wondering when someone I love is going to get swine flu, or how are we going to pay for upcoming events with budget cuts, or maybe it's the stress of a certain someone's actions(NO it's not anyone reading this.)etc. I LOVE where we are in life but I sometimes wish we could go back in time. Back to the time when it only cost $10 to go out for dinner, back to a time when I'd spend my days at the park with my kids, a best friend, and a 25 cent refill from Walkers. I love my job. I love my friends. I just miss the pureness of being newly married and a new mom. My kids are growing up so dang fast. I just want them to STOP and just be little again and let me do some things differently. I love them so much and sometimes I feel that I'm not doing enough to be the example they need. As a family we try so hard to read scriptures everyday. We're usually pretty good during the school year, not so good in the summer. The same with family prayer. Scott leaves before us so he wakes (and carries half-awake kids to our bed) so that we can start the day with family prayer. It doesn't matter how late he is, he does it every morning. But I look at their school pictures over the years and I feel like the memories are slipping and before we know it they will be gone. UGH! I'm not quite sure where all this is coming from. Perhaps it's the 4 day head ache I've had. I don't mean to be a whiner. I really have a great life and I am happy. It's just my turn to whine I guess.

I Can't Pray???

So I've seen this before but recently received it again in an email. After this past week (kids were a bit crazy) it made me chuckle.

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:
'Let me see if I've got this right.
'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.
'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.
'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.
'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.
'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.
'You want me to do all this and then you tell me. . . I CAN'T PRAY?

***(It's all pretty appropriate except for the 'waging a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases'...I don't have to do that... yet. :)

Where Did The Summer Go???

***Warning: Picture and info overload! I have gotton so far behind in posting and the OCD in me won't let me go forward until I document our summer so sorry to bore you.

Cayden and Ms. Dietz on the Last Day of 3rd Grade


Kylie and Mrs. Mullinax and Mrs. Hepworth on the LAST day of 5th Grade

I can't believe how fast this summer blew past. It just seems like Kylie's birthday was last week but it was actually June 1st. I've gotten pretty far behind in posting hopefully this will get me up to date. So here goes...Summer 2009

All Kylie wanted for her birthday this year was a day at Lagoon Amusement Park. No party, No going out to dinner, No presents...Nothing but Lagoon!

Needless to say, this year's birthday was EZ!

The Birthday Girl

*This picture looks pretty sad. It looks like she didn't get anything for her birthday but we ended up buying Season Passes to Lagoon so she actually got the gift that keeps on giving. I did make her favorite dinner (Steak & BBQ Shrimp) on Sunday. She was quite happy!

Kylie and Lizzy getting ready to board the bus for ClearCreek-Happy Birthday Ky Ky!

(She actually left at 6:30 am on her actual birthday)
The highlight of ClearCreek was catching a potgut with a small animal trap and getting a candy bar everynight for a night snack. Is she my kid or what? She had tons of fun staying in the cabins and she thought the showers were really cool. She was also fascinated to learn about the Coalville Mining Disater. She had such a great time, but we are thankful to have her home.

Two hours after we got Kylie off to ClearCreek, we dropped Cody off at EFY in Provo (BYU).
He was so excited. He would have loved to go with a friend but he was really excited to meet new friends. His roommate was Haden from Cortez, Colorado. The highlight of EFY was having his counselor teach him how to shotgun a soda. (I spent how much money to learn that skill at a church camp????) He also really loved having daily sripture study. Cody is a great kid and I love his guts!

So as you might have noticed, Cody and Kylie were both gone the same week. Cayden got to be an only child for the week. (Between me and you, if I could have found a camp for him to go to for the week...Scott and I would have been very lonely. ;)

After Cayden and I dropped off Cody, we visited a few museums on BYU campus. Here are a few pictures in the Art Museum.

What would be the perfect ending to a perfect date? How about a chili dog (gag) from Wienerschnitzel???

SO that was the first week of June. The remaining days of June were full of:

Bug Catching

Campouts in the Backyard

and LOTS of Singin' in the Rain

Scott and I, on the other hand, had a BLAST on our very first Carnival Cruise at the end of June. We flew into Long Beach and met up with Scott's sister Connie. We had a day in Long Beach and she graciously showed the sights. We walked on the pier, we ate lunch at Chili's, visited the Bubba Gump Shrimp Shop, and walked around down town. We even had some of the greatest frozen yogurt on the earth. Thanks Connie! We are really grateful for the time we got to spend with you.

We had a lot of fun on our cruise with Scott's mom and dad. We were spoiled and we were treated so well. We could have skipped the whole "Mexico" scene
and just stayed on the boat. We would have been just fine. Our Ensenada adventure story will have to be saved for another day. We did have a super time Kayaking to La Bufadora.

July finally warmed up and we enjoyed many days at the pool with lots of friends. My yard kinda went to pot when the Morning Glory took over my rock wall AGAIN! I have replanted every year for 3 years and this year I just gave up. I think I should just emabrace the Morning Glory and accept it as my landscaping.

I finally painted my kitchen. I have had various red paint swatches hanging on my wall for almost 4 years. I've never quite made up my mind on which color and I was too chicken to actually do it. Mainly because you have to first paint your wall pink then red. Scott would have had a cow if he'd come home and the kitchen was pink...even if it would have only been for a day. So after much pondering, I painted it (drum roll....) APPLE.....GREEN! (I bet you thought I was going to say Apple Red, huh?) Go figure! We also installed black distressed wanescoting as a back splash. We will soon change out the white plugs and switches for black ones and we replace the wall plates with stainless steel ones. It looks pretty good so far; although it has taken me a while to get used to it all. Here's a picture of the green and I'll post a picture of the wanescoting when it's all done.

The 4th of July came and went. We spent the week with my brother Mike. He brought his youngest daughter out to BYU for a summer music camp. His wife and younger son spent the week in Montana with her mom. After the week, everyone was reunited and they all flew home together. Their two oldest kids stayed in Texas to work. (We missed them.) On the 4th we decided to go to the Stadium of Fire. Cody was NOT excited to see the Jonas Brothers. In fact, I think he almost cried when I told him. Not for the same reason Kylie cried. (She was crazy excited.) Cody finally agreed that he would go and it actually turned out to be a great day. We went to 5 Guys for dinner and stopped by the BYU creamery for some ice cream before the game. We had a little time to kill before the Stadium of Fire so we drove up to the base of the Y. (We actually went back a few days later and hiked to the Y. I did not make though. ) The show was awesome! The BEST fireworks show that I've ever seen. If you look really close you might even see Cody singing along with the Jonas Brothers. (How the heck does he know those songs? I guess that's the effect of having a sister who sings the songs all the time.) The ride home was a hoot. Scott driving and Mike navagating with his Iphone GPS. We ended the evening with 25 tacos from Del Taco at midnight. We had a great time but wish more of our family could have been there with us.

One of the highlights of our summer was our trip to Lake Tahoe. It was a little later in the summer but it was well worth the wait. We celebrated Scott's parents 50th wedding anniversary with a big family reunion in Lake Tahoe. IT WAS AWESOME! We all stayed in a huge house in Zepher Cove. We were within walking distance to the lake; however our boat was docked a few miles away so we spent most of our days at the beach where the boat was docked. The water was so clear, blue, and COLD. So cold that I just hung out on the shore with an occassional quick dip to cool off. The kids and Scott all enjoyed getting pulled by the boat. Kylie loved knee boarding, Cody and Cayden enjoyed the tube and Scott water skiied. I enjoyed watching from the boat. The highlight of the trip was an evening Sock Hop. This was the theme for the actual anniversary celebration. It was so fun. Elizabeth (Scott's little brother's wife) did an awesome job planning the party. She prepared a wonderful dinner and for dessert, Scott's mom and dad cut a wedding cake again. Right after dinner we watched a movie that Don and Elizabeth put together. It was a tribute to Mom and Dad. All 6 kids sent vidoe clips about what they admired about their mom and dad. It was so sweet. I hope someday my kids will say such nice things about me. :) After cake, the Sock Hop began. Everyone was dressed up in their hippest 50's attire. There was an old fashioned "Soda Shop" with rootbeer floats. The walls were decked out with 50's albums and streamers. We danced and limboed and Granddad even gave swing lessons. It was a fabulous evening. The whole trip was great. I was really stressed to be gone for so long right before school started. I wasn't sure if I would be able to enjoy myself. But boy did I enjoy myself. Not that I would ever plan a trip that close to the start of the new year again, but it really did a lot for me, mentally.
Thanks Mom and Dad "J" for creating more cherished memories for my family.

Well that's about it. The summer has ended and a new school year has begun. I cannot believe how old my kids are getting. (Not me though...I'm not getting older, just my kids. :) Cody just started 9th Grade in HIGH SCHOOL! Kylie is ruling the school as a 6th Grader and Cayden is excited to be a 4th grader. I'm starting my 7th year teaching First Grade and I have a fabulous class. Scott was able to give everyone their "Back to School Blessing" and said everything that we each needed to hear. I love him so much and I am so grateful for the Priesthood he holds and honors. Here's to an awesome new school year and hopefully more consistant posts. :)

Braces are BEAUTIFUL!

Today Kylie got her braces on. She has been so excited for this day to come! I can not believe my little girl is old enough to be getting braces. This means that she no longer has any baby teeth! She is becoming more beautiful with each passing day.

I love you Ky KY and always remember,
"Braces are Beautiful!"

Before

During

After