Never again

I am not a baker. I freely admit this. In fact, I cringe whenever the kids want to make cookies. I'll cook, and it will turn out decent, but for some reason my baking skills are quite lacking. I wonder if I would have payed more attention in Chemistry if that would have helped. Anyway, there is a science to baking, and I certainly don't understand it. I'm sorry if you were ever on the receiving end of my chocolate chip cookies. They were supposed to be a thank you...not a means to make you dead. Anyway, I came across these yummy looking chocolate chip cookies on Pinterest (I'll admit to being addicted...I think Pinterest is the greatest thing since sliced bread). Caden wanted to make cookies today and so I thought I'd give them a try. Well, I will tell you one thing...I am never going back to making regular chocolate chip cookies again. Cake mix cookies are the way to go. I've never had nice looking chocolate chip cookies. They taste okay, but they look horrible. These accomplished both goals. In fact, I'm so proud of them that I'm blogging about it..because I'm cool like that :) You should definitely try them sometime. If I hadn't just run out of cake mix I would totally make you some. It was sooo easy...and let's face it...I love easy things! Try them...you may like them (If I were super cool, I would quote Dr. Seuss right here...you know the part I'm talking about...it's in Green Eggs and Ham...go read it...it's an excellent book). And don't mind my photograph...trust me..they look good!

A little Sunday Fun...back in October

Catching up with everything we did in Oct. and Nov. is hard...but they were just such fun memories! Like this for instance. I was flipping through the Family Fun magazine and came across an idea to make plastic cup rocket ships. I thought it would be fun to do as a Sunday Family activity. So, Dan drew all the rockets (and he got really creative...everything from regular ships to princess ships, ninja ships, dragons, Castles, etc. It was cute) the kids cut them out and I put the elastics on the cups so they would blast off. The kids played with these for awhile and laughed and laughed when their cup flew in the air and did something funny. Isn't it great how the simple things are sometimes the most fun? Granted, these didn't last long...they got taken down stairs and stepped on and stuff, but hey, it created a memory for me, and I loved it.

Theater Class

When we first moved here I contacted my high school drama teacher and asked her if she needed any help with anything. I was hoping to volunteer somehow. Well, she e-mailed back and asked if I wanted to teach a community theater class. Hahahaha. That was my first reaction. I'm not qualified to teach a theater class. I haven't done theater in...well, forever. But it was an intriguing idea. So, I did it! I stepped out of my comfort zone and told myself that I was qualified to teach and that I could do this. I taught two classes. A beginning class (one I was able to bring Kember too...that was fun) and a Character and Dialog class. At first I really enjoyed the younger class and the older class really intimidated me but as time went on I had a lot of fun with the older guys. I only had girls in both my classes, but I would occasionally help out another teacher with her class that only had boys in it. The picture is from the last day of class and we performed our vignettes for each other and I got picture happy! I may not have been qualified to teach the class, but I really enjoyed it. It was fun to see the girls grow a little bit and try new things. In the younger class it was fun to watch a really shy girl who didn't want to participate gain a little confidence and start to join in the activities. She was a real sweet heart.
It was a little stressful because Caden normally had soccer the same day, and most of the other things we did tended to all be on these days, but the great thing was that if Dan had to work it was completely okay for me to bring my kids along. It was awesome, and I'm glad I was able to do it!

Little Coley's Birthday

Okay, so I realize that Cole's birthday was you know...almost two months ago...but it needs documentation, right? Right. So, here is documentation of my little boy turning 3. Which, by the way, I have a really hard time remembering. I keep thinking he turned 4 and I have to think about how old Kember and Caden are to remember. Mother of the Year award, I know. Cole was super easy to shop for. When I asked him what he wanted he said Knight stuff and shoes. Awesome! Since his birthday is around Halloween the dollar store had the Knight stuff and he needed shoes anyway! I found this out by grandma and grandpa...They bought him new cowboy boots and when we went to the store to try them on we realized that he was in a size four and needed, oh, a size 7. His poor little feet. Never once has he complained about his shoes being too small. I could put them on okay, so I never really thought about it. Well, hopefully now his feet feel better! Caden was really excited to buy Cole a present with his own money. He went and bought him a Lego set. I love having generous kids. It makes my heart happy. And it's something I need to learn. Funny how they are teaching it to me, and not the other way around. With the Johnson cousins going out for ice cream for Cole's birthday. Had to take a picture with the Tow-Mater truck. It's kind of cute...just like the kids in front of it!Just a little daddy love!We had family come over to open presents and eat monster cupcakes. I didn't go all out with anything, but it was still fun. We love living close to family.

Well, happy belated birthday buddy! Thank you for your smiles and your songs. We love you!

Oh my little Milee

How dare you turn one year old! You are growing up sooo fast. Even though we aren't doing anything fun or fancy for your birthday I just wanted to let you know how much your dad and I love you. We love watching you grow and develop. Quite frequently you will hear us yelling to the other "Come see this!" Your brothers and sisters especially love to come get me when you are doing something they think is pretty neat...and it happens everyday.
You have the cutest walk ever (and just for posterity purposes, you started walking a month or so ago), and you can tell that you are proud of yourself for doing it. My favorite thing is your laugh. It's distinctly unique and truly yours, and the best part of it is that you share it so freely with others. Anytime someone laughs you join in no matter the reason. Same thing with clapping. You really love to clap. You are a great eater (minus the fact that you throw everything on the floor when you are done...but that's to be expected I suppose). You are one of the most stubborn people I know (wonder where you got that from). You will not learn to do something until you want to do something, and then when you want to...it's almost immediate. You aren't speaking yet, but you are able to get your point across quite clearly. When you are thirsty you will bring me your sippy cup, throw it on my lap, point, and say, "Da". We are still working on the sign language, but I'm assuming it will be like everything else and you will get it when and if you want to. You have two bottom teeth right now, but a whole mouthful waiting to come in. I think I counted 4 on top that were close, and maybe one more on the bottom. You love to be held and you love to be entertained. My favorite is when you play with your siblings. You will copy Cole the best you can, and you will even play with their light sabers with them. That's super cute to see because the foam light saber is bigger than you, but you hold on to it and swing it around just like your brothers. For all you love playing with your siblings, you are pretty independent too. If no one is paying attention to you, you will find your own thing to do. You love animals and get very excited when you see one. You start pointing, bouncing, and loudly proclaiming "Da, Da, da!" Don't worry, you will get hair sometime in the near future. I promise. I went through it and Kember when through it. It will come. But you probably already know that because you already love to comb your bald little head. You do a pretty good job combing too! I love your cheesy grin, and can't wait to watch you grow into a beautiful young woman. Thank you for being apart of our family. We all love you.

Sunday Thoughts

Today in Relief Society we had a lesson on the signs of the times...or the second coming. I will admit to not really enjoying this topic, or lesson (the teacher did a great job...I just don't like the topic). I've decided I don't like it because whenever people talk about it, it all becomes speculation. Whole bunches of it. Don't get me wrong...I normally like speculation, except in a church setting. Church lessons should be doctrine...lessons should be prepared with church approved material...not speculations. It makes me uncomfortable. But there you have it. What I did get out of this lesson was interesting for me though. One girl made a comment (it really did fit to what we were talking about, it just doesn't seem like it on my blog) about how people don't really let their kids play outside anymore with the neighbors...and it's true...I don't. I need to get to know my neighbors. This has been something I've been thinking about since we moved in. So hopefully sometime this week I will make cookies and take them to the neighbors. Also, I was thinking a lot about since we don't know when the second coming will be we need to use our time wisely, right? Well, last night I got to thinking about putting first things first. I tend to do the not important things first, and then run out of time for the important things...so...I need to re prioritize things (and I'll deny I ever wrote this, but I should probably get up earlier in the morning too...which means going to bed earlier....sigh/groan). So those were the things I got out of church today, and just my own musings about my life. Isn't that the great thing about the gospel? Personal revelation...got to love it....now to follow through with it.

School Pictures

Kember got back her school pictures yesterday and I think they turned out pretty cute! She isn't smiling like we practiced, but it is far and a way better than her last years pictures. Those were bad...which is saying something because I think she's a beautiful girl. I don't understand why it costs so much for the pictures though...and why they have only a few package options. I really liked at her last school how I could just buy the CD for a few dollars. That way if I hated the pictures I wouldn't be out too much. Or if I loved them I could spend as much as I wanted reprinting them.

But here is my beautiful girl who is growing up way too fast. Love you Kember!

Sunday Happenings

Does anyone else just love this time of year? I don't mean Fall (truthfully it's not my favorite season..don't get me wrong, it's great, just not my favorite). I mean General Conference. Every April and October I just can't wait for. Good times, good messages. I've decided that my kids do better at listening and being quiet when I don't have a lot of things for them to do. Today I just sat out crayons and some scripture puzzles and they were really good....until Dan started wrestling with them :) Even though I couldn't hear I didn't want to stop it cause it's soooo cute watching them play together and laugh together as a family. I LOVE IT! So many good things we heard. Aren't we so lucky to hear from a prophet and apostles every 6 months? I made a goal to read all the conference talks before this last session. Which may not seem like much of a goal, but considering I started like a week before conference started...well, let's just say I was up reading late Friday night. And I was kicking myself. Do any of you remember Elder Robbins talk, "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?" Holy cow it was good! The whole time I was reading it I was thinking, "Why didn't I read this earlier? I could have been working on this stuff for 6 months!" Anyway, it was good. You should read it if you can't remember it. From this conference...where to start...where to start. I really enjoyed Elder Cook's talk where he was telling a story about when Pres. Monson was talking to him in an elevator and Pres. Monson said, "It's better to look up." Which I think is rather profound, and something that I should do more of. I mean, not literally looking up, but looking to God. We are happier when we are looking up. I like it. I liked Elder Oakes talk when he said something like, "What do you really believe about Jesus Christ, and what are you doing with that belief?" Anyway, the point is, I can't wait to read and listen to these talks again. There was so much good stuff that was said!

After conference today we had a birthday party for Cameron. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMERON! Actually his birthday was yesterday, but we celebrated today. I had a lot of fun thinking about things to make, and even though Cameron isn't a big dessert fan I put together a dessert bar (cause I like dessert :) I meant to have balloons and a banner and stuff too, but I think it still turned out pretty cute. It sure got the kids excited for Cameron's party :) We had Collin and Andrea's families over and we ate a lasagne dinner (tradition for Cameron's birthday you know...although the lasagne didn't turn out like grandma's...sigh...maybe someday). It was good to just sit and talk with family. I will admit to loving being closer to a lot of my siblings (we missed you Rorie and Nate and Mom and Dad!)I have to laugh at the next two pictures...not because people are making funny faces, but because one was taken at the beginning of the party, and the other was taken almost before everyone left...and look at Cameron. Hahahaha...different seat, same activity :)Well Cameron, I hope you had a great birthday! We love you, and wish you years of happiness and success.

I feel like I had another domestic day today...and the GREAT news?! I didn't lose any of the kids! Course Dan was home today, so that probably helped a little :) After we went to Park City to get some wood for Dan and his projects I started on the jam. I bought a flat of strawberries a couple days ago, and today was the day. Course, yesterday should have been the day...a lot of the strawberries were bad but what can you do? Now, I'm just going to clarify...making jam is easy, but it sure is time consuming. And more than half way through I remembered that I didn't have everything ready to go and I was not at a point where I could stop and get things ready. So, Cole became the messenger and I pulled Dan from his projects so he could help me! Isn't he the greatest. Batch two went a lot better. I made sure I was prepared with everything this time. So, all in all I got 11 bottles of strawberry jam. Someday I will get brave and mix flavors, but for now I'm a one flavor type gal. Want to see one of the projects Dan whipped up?Yep, it's a dog house. No, we aren't getting a dog. This wouldn't even fit the kids stuffed animals. Caden just told Dan that he wanted him to make him a dog house. Then Caden got me and I painted it. He tried, but his little fingers aren't strong enough for spray paint. It's not exactly the color scheme I would have chosen, but blue and black were his choices. Anyway, I thought it was cute of Dan to make one.

While he was working on other things and one batch of jam was done, I took Caden on a mommy date and we went to the store so I could finish another project of mine. Finally, I present to you, homemade magnetic robots!
Hopefully this will keep the kids entertained for awhile. My boys really like Robots, and this way they can make them however they want. I had fun putting these together :) Doesn't my creativity astound you? Go ahead, be astounded...and then know that I copied the idea from someone else...like I do with all good ideas. So now the kids have these robots, some story stones (huge fan of those, p.s. by the way...you should hear their stories...super cute), and someday I will finish the Alphabet lacing cards. I'm trying to actually finish projects now, and I'm doing better, but it still takes me a month or so. Good thing you can't wait with food, huh.

On a random note, my sister Rorie was able to bring her babies home today from the hospital! She sounds good, and it sounds like the babies are doing great. They are identical twins and she mentioned that they have a hard time telling them apart, but considering she had them a few days ago, and today is the first time she's really seen them I think that's okay. The question is, will I ever be able to tell Caleb and Micah apart. This remains to be seen. So, congrats Rorie and Nate. Our little family is super happy for you guys!

Whiskey Springs (FHE)

Last Monday for family home evening the Linford's invited us to go with them to Whiskey Springs to roast marshmallows for FHE. When I told Dan he got really excited and started planning a dutch oven dinner to go along with it. He dragged out the dutch oven, chopped everything up, packed everything in (and I'm including the kids in this sentence even though I was originally referring to the food) and loaded it all. They waited for me to finish teaching my class and when I got home, we went up early to get things cooking! It's a pretty little place. Kember wanted to go exploring and hiking on the trails right away. The kids also had fun taking pictures. Kember has a good time with this, and only cut off a little bit of my head. But hey, it proves me and Milee were there!I set Milee down on the ground so I could do something and Dan asked what she had in her mouth. I told him it was probably a leaf and not a big deal. These things are big deals to Dan so he went over and fished out the "leaf". Turns out it wasn't a leaf but a cigarette butt. Ew...gross. Glad he fished that out. When the Collin, Michelle, and clan arrived, we ate, hiked a little, and made s'mores. Dan is teaching the kids how to make a fire. I think Caden is convinced that all you have to do is still the fire pit with a stick. One time when we were at the ranch we had a fire going, but it started to rain and either put the fire out, or let it go out. Anyway, the kids were outside playing and Jacob and the rest of the boys come running in. They were so excited that they started a fire! All they had to do was stir the ashed with a stick. Guess we didn't put the fire out very well. My favorite part of the evening was playing Missionary Tag after we finished eating. Everyone played, and it was really fun. I love watching my kids play games like that. We don't do that enough in our family, so it was great to be with Collin and Michelle, because they do. Also, their kids are really good to mine. The would slow down and let my kids think they were super fast and could beat them. They are just a really supportive family. Glad we live close by. It was a great FHE!

I am officially a soccer mom

I've had the van for a while now, but I finally have a child playing soccer. Caden had his first game tonight and I was so proud of him. He has been talking non-stop about playing soccer for the last week. We finally found him shin-guards yesterday. He tried them on at home and wouldn't take them off until his legs got hot and itchy.


I was really worried about signing him up because of our last experience with him and swimming, but he got right in there and went after the ball. He falls down a lot. Even more than a lot, but he looks good while he does it!


This was just because I thought it was funny!

There was a little bit of crying (once when he fell down he got stepped on) and major concern that he wasn't winning. It's hard to convince him that they aren't keeping score, and he is just supposed to play for fun and practice. All my competitive little boy knows is that the other team made more goals than his team, and he wanted to win, but he did enjoy his snack!

Mom and dad even came to watch his game! Thanks for the support guys! So, here is my question....Do I buy the jersey? I mean, technically, as long as he has a black or yellow shirt he is okay to play. I'm all for that. It saves me money and I don't think he's at an age to really care that he is the ONLY one without a jersey. But other people think that we should buy one. What should I do?

Work 'em while they are young

Dan has been after me to come up with a chore chart for a while now. I've been meaning to make one, but like all my ideas this didn't ever come to fruition. The only reason Dan wanted me to make one was because he felt the kids needed a way to earn some money. The only problem is that I don't want to pay them. But he finally won me over by telling me that it would be a good learning experience for them to go through the whole process...you know, earn the money, save it, and buy something that they wanted. Plus, we could teach them tithing this way. Hard to teach tithing when they never earn anything. That was probably the best argument for me :) So I sat down and finally decided what chores they have to do just because they are a member of the family. Things like make their bed, clean their room, take care of their dishes, etc. Then after their "have to's" are done any extras they do they can earn a little something. Well, Caden is super good at this. He is my helper and he knows exactly what he is saving for...Lego's, what else? He's such a sweetheart that he would help me with stuff even before he was getting paid for it. However, the majority of stuff was done while Kember was a school so I decided to hit the chore list hard on Saturday when Kember was home. Surprisingly enough the kids were really willing and wanting to go through the list. Some of the chores were hard for them and they wanted to stop in the middle, but after explaining that they don't get paid for half finished jobs, they finished....then asked to do the next one.Poor Caden gets gypped in the picture area apparently. I had a picture of him, but I can't find it anywhere. He's a great helper though. Kember earned the most and Cole just spluttered (is that a word?) along at his own snail pace...but he did it, and I discovered that he is really good, or rather, really likes to wipe the mirrors and windows. They were really proud of themselves, and couldn't wait to tell Daddy how much they had earned. Too bad it isn't Saturday tomorrow...my house could use some sprucing :)

Sunday Thoughts

*Warning: Just a bunch of rambling

I can't say that I got much out of church today. Unfortunately I spent a lot of time walking the halls with a very happy baby. Why would I be walking the halls with a happy baby? Don't you normally leave class with angry/sad/upset babies? Yes, normally you do. However...my very tired happy baby was extremely loud. She was making very cute happy sounds, but they were very loud. I will also admit to not really paying much attention to the talks during Sacrament meeting. However, I did learn that a lot of people were more in tune with the Spirit than I was because multiple people brought up and commented about one of the sisters talks. Guess that just goes to show that we need to be prepared...it's not just the speakers responsibility. Look at what I missed out on because I chose not to be prepared.
Dan and I tried out a new Sunday School class today. Dan (and me too) was hesitant to try it because our Gospel Doctrine class has been really really good. But in sacrament the Bishop mentioned this new (to us) class and how it was going to teach ways to help our children combat things like pornography. Since I feel like I can use all the help with this that I possibly can I asked Dan if we could switch classes. This is one subject that completely terrifies me. I'm mostly worried about my boys. Let's face it, porn is everywhere. How can I teach them the right things to do when confronted with it? I have no idea what they will have to go through because I grew up oblivious to these kinds of things. I'm also worried about Kember. Now that she is in school I worry about her friends, and the influence they will have on her. I grew up with great friends...and for me, that made all the difference. She went to a friends house the other day, and while I'm thrilled that she has a friend (and that the friend lives fairly close by) I'm just worried about outside influences. I met the mother and she was really friendly, but since I don't know the family I worry. All of a sudden being a mother is terrifying. My children are growing up and I'm worried that I have missed some vital teaching moment that would help them strengthen their testimony of the gospel.
I was reading the conference talk "Become as a Little Child" and she says, "Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught us the importance of the Savior's admonition to 'behold your little one' when he said; 'Notice that He didn't say 'glance at them' or 'casually observe them' or 'occasionally take a look in their general direction.' He said to behold them. " Isn't that a great quotation? That's what I've been working on this week. To really behold my children. There is loads that I need to do to improve, but at least it is comforting to know that these are God's children, and He will help me raise them.

Labor Day

This is the only picture I took on Labor Day, but I sure think it's a cute one! Cameron is really great with kids. Milee is fascinated by him.
Dan had to work (surprise, surprise) but he took Caden with him. He had the next two days off and decided that would be a good time to go back to St. George and get all the things we left behind. So, he took Caden with him. It was his idea too! It amazes me how much my children need each other. I love it. Kember and Cole kept asking when Caden would be back, and every time I would talk to Caden on the phone he would ask to talk to the kids. When he did get home it was dinner time and he turned to me very seriously and said, "Mom...after dinner can I play with Kember and Cole because I haven't played with anyone all day." Dan was a little offended...what is he, chopped liver? but I had to laugh. I love that my children love each other. Some day, probably sooner than I'd like, I'm sure they are going to start fighting like cats and dogs...but right now I love it. Now that Kember is in school the boys are playing more and more with each other, and it's really cute.
Oh, back to Labor Day. I invited myself to a BB-Q at Andrea's that my parents and Cameron were going to. It was a really nice relaxing day. We just hung out at Andrea's while the guys went golfing. The kids entertained themselves, and we just visited. We ate a great meal (Yes, Matt and Cameron, it was great despite the fact I forgot the hamburger and we only had hot dogs...heaven forbid). I love living close to family so we can do things like this. I miss St. George..(especially now that the weather is getting cooler. I may have to dig out the kids jackets from somewhere in the next couple days.) However I'm getting more and more involved with different things so that's been helpful. The boys will start a preschool with some moms in the ward, we have play-group, I talked today to a girl about starting a book club, I'm going to volunteer every Tuesday in Kember's class, we have story time at the library, and I'm going to teach two community theater classes for a few months. It's a start, right?

Little Milee

I think someone is a little tired.
Yep, sleepy...
Really really really sleepy.

Missing

So, what did you all do on this lovely first day of September? I went to playgroup, made lunch for my kids, baked 4 loaves of bread, 2 loaves of zucchini bread, made homemade pop-tarts, lost Kember, and generally freaked out.And now on to the long version of the story. So about a half hour after Kember gets home from school there is a knock on the door. A little friend came over to play. Huh...well, I guess if her parents are okay with just randomly going to someones house it's okay by me. I know where my kid is anyway. So, they play for about an hour while I finish up in the kitchen. Five o'clock rolls around so I tell Kember that she can walk her friend home if she wants, and I'll get the mail. So I walk with the boys to the mailbox and wait on the driveway for Kember to come back. She doesn't come. So, I walk up the street a bit to find her. Umm...can't see her anywhere and have no idea which street she is on. I'm assuming she went into her friends house and stayed, but...???? I don't know this girl, so I have no idea where she lives. All I know is that she is close by because she rides the bus with Kember. So I walk down another street and ask some kid who's working outside if he saw two little girls walk this way. He didn't notice anything. Okay, I'm starting to panic a little bit now, and when I panic I get angry, so naturally I take it out on Caden who is walking with me...because I'm just a great mom like that. So I go back home thinking maybe she's there (although I know she isn't, because if she went home and I wasn't there she would freak out and start screaming for me...no screaming=no Kember). I gather up Cole, Caden and the baby and we start out again. I go to a lady's house that has kids on the bus stop hoping she would know this girl and where she lives. No luck there. But on my way I meet up with another girl from playgroup and of course I start crying. She stays and helps me look for Kember. While checking one home I ask if my daughter is there. She looks at me funny and then says, "You look familiar...did you grow up here?" Yes "Are you a Linford?" I'm not thinking to straight at this point (panicking, remember?) so I say something brilliant like "Should I know you?" nice, huh? Anyway, it turns out to be Melissa Caulkins whom I used to live by. Small world...small small world. Well, she decides to help out too (because again, I've started to cry). The other girl (who incidentally is also named Tara, and is super cute and nice) has to go home because her husband has to start his second job, and her baby is sleeping. I decide to try one more block before I really started to panic. This time when I knock on the door a familiar face opens it and I say, "Is my daughter here?!" "Yep" but he looked at me kind of funny so I had to explain that I had no idea where she was. Yep, mother of the year award to me. I got Kember out of the house and promptly started to cry. Good times...good times.And in other news, I baked...and everything turned out how it was supposed to (mostly). The bread looks good (don't know if it tastes good, but looks are important, right?) and the pop-tarts, while I'm not the biggest fan of them (I'm going to make them again with a pie crust instead) the kids went ga-ga over them. So, success there. I also made two loaves of zucchini bread, which didn't go as well as I had hoped, but whatever. I may have lost my child, but I'm domestic, right? Sigh. At least Caden had fun helping me make the bread. You should have seen him pound the dough out. I told him to karate chop it and he thought that was cool. He really liked to roll it into the shape too. He's a keeper.

Sunday Thoughts

I really like this ward we are in. It has been a long time since I've enjoyed all of my meetings so much! Today in Sunday School we talked about the Holy Ghost. The question he asked us was "How well do you know the Holy Ghost?" It's kind of a thought provoking question isn't it. Have you ever thought about it before? I don't know that I ever have, but it's made me look at my relationship with the Holy Ghost a little differently.

In Relief Society our lesson was on the Atonement. She told us how when she was getting a temple recommend she was telling the stake president about some not great feelings she was having towards some people. He asked her if she was praying for them. She was completely taken back by this. She said, "You mean I have to pray for them?" It made me think of my own experiences with this. I've been blessed in my life to pretty much like most people. However, every once in a while I come across a person who just drive me batty and I can't stand. I put this advice into action, and now I can honestly say that I like this person. And the funny thing? It wasn't the person who change at all. They are still the same as they ever were, but the Lord changed my heart. Give it a try. You might be surprised at the results.
I don't know what talk she was reading from. It was in a recent Ensign because I remember it, but in the talk the guy said that he shares experiences from his brothers life "with permission." She said it stuck with her because how much would we talk about other people if we had to get permission to do so. It was kind of random, but it made me think a little bit.
It was a great day in church today. Hopefully we will start feeling apart of this ward soon. Playgroup is on Thursday and maybe I'll be able to make some friends there.

Kember & Caden Funnies

Kember: "Mom! Can Zoie and I watch "Princess Diarrheas?"
Me: "What? Can you watch Princess Diaries?"
Kember: "Ya!"
Me: "Oh..okay"

*Andrea corrected her later, telling her what diarrhea meant and that the word was diary. Kember didn't think it was as funny as we thought it was. She started to cry. Oh my sensitive children.


Later------
Me: "What movie did you watch?"
Caden: "Screws."
Me: "Excuse me?"
Caden: "You know, the one with Christmas and spirits and stuff."
Me: "Oh, Muppets Christmas Carol?"
Caden: "Ya."

Boy, I really need to start saying words more clearly. Screws?

1st day of First Grade

Today was the big big big day! Yeah! School Started again! Kember was pretty excited to start the first grade. She had a rough time sleeping last night, and I'm blaming it on pre-school jitters. She was very excited to bring a lunch (although, she isn't excited anymore...now she wants to eat school lunch...sigh). She was a little worried about finding the lunch room and getting on the bus. I have to admit, that part surprised me. I went with her to the bus stop this morning, and when it was time to get on it took a little prodding to convince her to go. Last time she rode a bus she jumped on before the other people were able to get off. I think she's okay with it now though. She didn't tell me much of what happened at school, but hopefully she will be more verbal tomorrow. She did tell me that her table was the quietest so they got 6 stars. When they get 15 they get to get a prize in the cafeteria. Hopefully she will make friends soon. I was hoping someone on the bus stop would be in her class, but no go there. Maybe we will meet some new neighbors soon that she can play with.I realize this isn't the most flattering picture, but I didn't want to hold everyone up while she posed for me, so this is what you get.

Notice anything new?

Anything? Anything at all?Kember has been after me for quite some time to get her ears pierced. Which is quite ironic because when I was shopping with Carol Lee at the mall awhile back the two of us were trying hard to convince Kember to get her ears pierced and she wanted nothing to do with it...until lately. So, since we were in Provo today and at the mall Dan and I figured..."why not?" So, she picked the studs and sat very still and quietly. She only said, "Ouch" twice and that was that. I have to admit to being surprised. I thought there would be tears, screaming, gnashing of teeth and quite a lot of convincing on my part to get the other ear done. But nope...there was just, "Ouch" twice. I'll take it. She is super excited about cleaning them. Let's hope she stays excited.
We went to back to school night tonight for Kember. First grade...pretty exciting stuff. Back to School Night was a mess, but hopefully Thursday will be fun for her. Speaking of...Thursday...really? Why are you (meaning the powers that be in the school realm) starting school on a Thursday? How does this make sense? Whatever. Anyway, new school, new earrings. How can life get any better?

Sunday thoughts

First of all, I would like to wish the love of my life a very Happy Birthday! It stinks to be sick on your birthday, but he's dealt with it pretty well. It was a very uneventful birthday, but Dan, I love you. I love watching you, and I love that you just keep getting better. I thought you were great when we got married, but you are even better now. Feel better and we will thoroughly celebrate when you feel better! Your wife loves you and your kids adore you.

Today in Relief Society we were talking about family history and genealogy. I will admit that neither topic has interested me much, and I shy away from it. I claim that I'm doing my part by blogging and taking pictures and such. I claim that it isn't my season to be doing stuff like this right now. Later, I will get to it later.
I had a thought during the lesson that I was too cowardly to share during class. So I will throw it out to all the blogging world (because we all know how deep my thoughts are :).
Sadly, I remember very little of my wedding. I didn't write much down and was too taken up by everything to remember much. However, I do remember taking my endowments out. The part that stands out the most is when I went through the veil. As Dan pulled me through I was suddenly surrounded by people I love. All my family was there, all of Dan's family was there, and all were hugging me and welcoming me "home" and into the family. It was such a strong feeling to see everyone that I loved in that room. I can only imagine how it will be when we die and are met, not only by the close family that has gone before, but by all our ancestors waiting to welcome us home. And, if we do our temple work, by all those that we've done the work for. If I was overwhelmed with the love I felt with just our two families, I can only imagine what it will be like for the love of generations to cross the veil.
Anyway, it kind of made me want to start doing something family history related. I've been meaning to start indexing for a long time and haven't done it, so this was hopefully the push I needed to get started. Anyone want to come show me how to do it?

The conclusion

*My goal for blogging is to have either the same number of posts as my mother or to have at least one more....being the last day of the month, and almost midnight, I need to hurry to have the same number of posts...so here are a few quick things of what's been happening this month.

Family reunion number three took place at the end of July. Actually, it started on Kember's birthday, so that is what we did for her this year. I've been too pre-occupied with moving and renting our house to throw her a party...that and we were never really home to throw one anyway. But back to the reunion. All (or most actually) the Johnson clan met up at Cove Fort for the start of the Johnson Do-Dah.

We had a picnic lunch (which, because it's the Johnson's was absolutely delicious and amazing...bring on the food!) and then toured the fort. The kids had a great time playing around.
Then we headed to the ranch and got everyone settled in. We stayed up late talking and because of children who had a hard time during the night, we didn't sleep much either. By we I mean everyone who had to listen to screaming children and an unhappy mother (have I mentioned I get a bit cranky with lack of sleep?). Dan had to work again, so I soloed it to this reunion as well. It's a good thing I love his family so much.
Anyway, the next day we went on a mini-fau trek. I was super excited for this because I've never done a trek before. They became popular after my time in Young Women's (boy that makes me sound old....I guess I have been out of high school for 10 years now...crazy...crazy, crazy, crazy). It wasn't far, only about a mile and half or so, but it was a lot of fun. Carol Lee made skirts and bonnets for my girls, and they had handcarts for each family to push. So we loaded the babies on our hand cart and away we went!

Here is most of the Johnson clan when we stopped for lunch.And away we go again. Our handcart was pulled by Jed the whole way, with other helpers, like Nanci. The kids got to push. Kember was a real trooper. After lunch she told grandma, "I'm ready to push!" I was really proud of her.
Caden wasn't too excited about the whole "walking" idea. So he complained for a bit, but got into things towards the middle of the trek. All the kids ended up riding for the last bit.
I don't think Cole walked one step of the trek. He was either carried by grandpa or was sitting on someone's hand cart. The little stinker (literally as well as figuratively). And the babies even got to be carried for the last bit too.
Johnson get togethers are always fun, and I'm glad I got to go. I didn't see the kids much this reunion...at the ranch all the kids just go play, and you don't have to worry about anything. They love it, and it's nice for all the parents too.

A good time was had by all.