Twin Falls Trip

Back in September, my best friend Tamera proposed a trip out to the Twin Falls temple during Christmas break. (Since the Boise temple is currently closed for renovations that is the one closest to us.) We figured it would be fun for the adults to do an endowment session and the teenagers could do baptisms. Due to the fact that it's a 2 hour drive each way we figured it would be fun to make it an over-night trip and get hotel rooms. Party time!

So I got online and booked us a room at the La Quinta (where Steven and I stayed on our little trip in June) and got excited. Steven and I got a few working hours in that morning and headed out...getting there about the same time as the McEntires. We got all checked into the hotel and moved luggage in. I quickly got changed to head over to the temple for our 4pm endowment session.

While I was gone (Steven decided to stay behind and watch all the kids), here are the pics obtained: Logan hanging out with his great buddy Quinn probably playing his DS and Alex reading.


Here is Owen and Evan wrestling with Gus. Such a cute little bundle of boys!


Once the adults returned, it was time for dinner and swimming. Notice the pizza sauce on Evan's pizza...and yes, Grandma they love their new trunks!


After some fun swimming, it as time to hit the sack. We decided to hit the temple with the kids the next morning at 5:30am to get in and out quickly. The plan worked like a charm. We got there shortly after 5am and got in the car to head back to the hotel before 6:30. It was Quinn and Kim's first time doing baptisms. Here are the rather cheerful kids in front of the temple doors....don't forget to ask Kim about the 3 times she slipped getting to and from the temple. She'd love to tell you all about it....


When Kim and I got back to the hotel, Logan was still sleeping and the little boys were still tired, so we laid back down for some rest before heading down for breakfast. Once we were ready to eat we headed down to the complimentary breakfast of waffles, eggs, potatoes, juice, hot chocolate and pastries....oh, so yummy.

After breakfast, the McEntires decided to head home. I wanting to make the most of our hotel room, promptly decided to get back into bed and take a nap. With check-out time looming, I drug myself out of bed (did I mention I'd gotten woken up at 3:30am by a climbing Evan) and got everything all packed up and out to the car (with some help from my wonderful hubby).

We took the kids over to see the temple. Here they are in front of the sign.


Here they are pointing up to Angel Moroni.


And here I am with my wonderful hubby.


After the temple we hit up some KFC for lunch and went to see "Santa Snork saves the Seasons" over at the CSI planetarium. (Which I highly recommend checking out if you're ever in Twin Falls looking for something to do.) The kids all got to pick a toy from the gift shop and we headed home...

A wonderful little mini-vacation. Full of spiritual renewal and relaxation. Doesn't get much better than that!

Children Picture Outtakes

I know how you enjoyed my last blog with the family outtakes, so I figured you would enjoy the children just as much, if not more.... (and yes, I'm aware that my flash sucks and killed a lot of pics...next year we will plan ahead and take outdoor pics in September before it gets too cold.)


Kim....even though she is hitting that awkward pre-teen age, she still photographs beautifully...well, when she is looking at the camera. I'm still trying to figure out how an average looking woman (such as myself) and her odd-looking father (yep, he is) could create such a gorgeous looking girl...

Ok...this one looks a little goofy. I think Steven was making her laugh.

This one is my favorite...It's from the ill-fated park shoot. She thought her hair was too poofy curled like this, so it wasn't re-curled for photo shoot two.


Logan....He is hit and miss. Such an adorable smile, but he gets too into saying "cheese" so he looks odd sometimes....

Totally saying cheese here...

What no teeth?

I love the immense joy in this pic...

Owen...difficult in real life....difficult to get a good shot...

Blinking

Best of the bunch

Total Cheese.

Being a little beast

Evan, my baby....he is getting too big...He didn't want to cooperate at either photo shoot....

Trying to get the M&Ms we were bribing him with....

Chewing an M&M

Attacking my tree....

You can see the M&M in this one...if you look close enough.

This one is my favorite...also from the ill-fated photo shoot. Doesn't he just look so innocent? Or maybe he's just plotting his next evil plan....

There you go...my children in all their wonderful photo-riffic glory!

Christmas Picture Outtakes....

To all who have received our Christmas card and are wondering why we have a mini-Gene Simmons in our family...I have decided to let you behind the scenes of our picture taking...

Do you know how hard it is to get 6 people, 3 of which are ages 5 and under to look at a camera and smile? Do you....really?

And don't worry, this was the 2nd attempt to get family pictures....the first attempt was worse.

Exhibit A: Notice none of the little children are appropriately smiling, plus the mother looks a little out-of-sorts....

Exhibit B: Not too bad, except for Evan is trying desperately to get off the lap of his mother...this probably would have been the winner, but Evan was cut out of pic on most pre-decorated cards available at Costco (because I needed cheap and easy and there was a coupon)

Exhibit C: No one is ready at all...In fact dad is probably wasting precious time taking random pics instead of helping to poke children into smiling.

Exhibit D: Evan is not cooperating at all, hence forced smile on mother's face...and Logan is way too cheesy.

Exhibit E: Evan not looking at camera and partially out of frame. Owen is a little squinty.

Exhibit F: Um, what isn't wrong with this picture?

Exhibit G: Both Logan and Owen took the "get closer to mom" phrase literally.

Exhibit H: Not sure what Evan is chewing on...and what is up with Owen? Maybe pinching was too hard...

So now, you probably understand why this picture was in the mail....Merry Christmas to you all!

Updates, updates...

Yes, yes I am aware that I haven't posted a blog in like 2 months...well, I'm a busy woman. Here is what I've been doing....

**Got a shed installed in the backyard. Hallelujah! It's 8 feet by 10 feet and has plenty of room. As I started moving lots of thing from the garage and rattled off a list of items to soon be moved out there my loving husband said, "So basically you wanted a second garage?" Well duh! Who doesn't? Here is the view from my back door....

Here is the view of the inside....notice how unfilled it is. I'm working on that....

***Once the shed was up, it was time to organize the garage...still working on that, but it looks much better than before. The main reason for orgainizing the garage (aside from the fact that I am crazy anal like that) was to get the Christmas decorations out from under the stairs so I would have a home for my food storage.

**Ta-Da! I finally made it over to the cannery and got some food storage. Don't get too excited. I didn't actually can anything by myself (that will come later) I just picked up 18 of the starter kits. I'm now well on my way toward a year supply....

Here are the lovely boxes (with the contents totally rearranged into their appropriate food groups and relabeled, 'cause that's how I roll) under the stairs....

I tell you, it is the greatest feeling to have all that food, what exactly I'll do with it I'm not quite sure, but there is time to figure that all out later.

***On to the next item of busy business. A couple weeks ago, I purchased 80 lbs of chicken breasts because it was $1.49 a lb. So I stood at my kitchen island from 10am to 2pm cutting up chicken. We freezer packed half of it and the other 40 lbs I canned....yep, you read that right....I CANNED CHICKEN! We ended up with 38 pint jars. It is so wonderful! And it was so easy! I vowed will buy an extra box of chicken every time and can it.

Here is a pic of the shelf in the back of the closet with my chicken....the bottom 3 boxes and 1 lonely jar that didn't fit. Maybe I'll make soup with him so he isn't so lonely.

Those of you who are super observant may have noticed another box above the chicken in the previous pic. That would be the 13 quarts of grape juice I canned. (Thanks Melissa for the grapes, you're great!) That was another 2 days of work.

Plus I've been working Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings from 9am-12pm. This last month, I decided to cut back on my hours and will only be working Tuesday and Friday mornings, occasionally filling in where needed. Work is going good. I have 7-10 kids on Tuesdays and 13-17 on Fridays. So basically I get paid to be with my kids, let them socialize with other kids, play with toys I didn't have to buy or store, and watch 3 hours of the Disney channel (we don't have cable, so that is a treat.) all to make a few extra bucks...nice gig, eh?

But what keeps me the busiest are little people like this....

Sometimes, this child is wears me out! The teenage years (even though she is only 12 1/2) are in full swing. The sassing is at full-tilt! The room is a mess! And it's a miracle if she get laundry from the dryer into the drawers without drama! But she also is becoming quite the great helper with the boys and is quite anxious to cook....nice for me! She is loving mutual and is becoming a great little flute player.

This little man finally started Kindergarten (he'd been waiting for like 2 years waiting for all the other kids to catch up). That is his pic from the 1st day of school. Since we put him into a special magnet school, we have to provide his transportation. I have to take him the 8 miles out to school each day, but luckily we carpool home with 2 families from the ward and I only have to pick up Monday afternoons and every other Wednesday. It's not too bad, it just breaks up the day so it's hard to get much done. But he is loving school, especially engineering and library. His teacher is awesome! He is testing amazing and no surprise here, but his reading is so advanced she gave up on all the Kindergarten lessons and got books from the 1st grade teacher for him to read while the other kids are doing their lessons. He is such a smart little kid!


Don't let that adorable grin fool you...this boy is a beast! I took this picture the other morning when I came downstairs and noticed he found the markers. He is into EVERYTHING and keeps me on my toes. He misses his best, best friend (Logan) while he is at school, but makes up for it by playing with his best friend, the next door neighbor boy, as often as he can. There is nothing this child will not climb, nothing he will not color on and no key he will not try to unlock the movie cabinet! But he probably gives the best hugs and has the greatest smile ever!


Sweet baby Ray turned 18 months old! He is officially in Nursery. Lucky for us, his teacher is my best friend so he loves going, even though he has fallen asleep both weeks he has been in there. Owen is trying to pull him over to the dark and bad decision making side, while I struggle to get him to be all sweet and lovey. He also is getting into everything, especially the pantry! Currently we are dealing with separation anxiety, so I can't go anywhere without him...my treadmill and the gym is starting to miss me. When all 4 of his molars finally break through (yep, all 4 at once) perhaps life will return to normal.

As for me, I was released from Nursery (the week before Baby started) and became the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator (aka the person who plans enrichment). Got any good ideas, I would love to hear them!

I should probably stop there and get to sleep. Tomorrow I'm off to can applesauce and Friday we will do apple pie filling...Wish me luck.

Home Improvements

This post has been long delayed, sorry my life is just busy. (Yes, mom...I'm finally posting it.)

So, for those of you who didn't know, by husband took all the kids and traveled to Arizona for almost 2 weeks and left me home alone. Oh, it was wonderful! I decided since I wouldn't need to clean the house a million times a day, cook numerous meals and change diapers that I would have the time and energy to do some projects. Not to mention that with little people out of the house, I could delve into the projects that wouldn't fare well with them here.

So about a week before my husband left, I sat down and made a list of all the things I wanted to get done while they were gone....it was a sheet of college ruled paper filled front and back. I didn't get all of my projects done (partly because he came home a day early and partly because I had started the House of Night series and couldn't put it down.) but I got the most important ones accomplished.

I took "before" pics, but to be honest, I have no idea where they went. I'm thinking my husband transfered them onto the main computer and erased the memory card. So sorry, you get no "before" pics. Maybe one day I will find them and post them, but by then you won't care. Plus my whole house was painted with a color I loving call "Oatmeal" just imagine all the now colorful walls to be uncolorful...

First and foremost....the Living Room needed color. My loving "interior decorator" and neighbor Andrea and I spend many a day conversing about the painting of the room and selecting the perfect color. We decided again a maroon color fearing the room would look too busy. Blue was obviously out because of the couches, so we settled on a nice "Milk Chocolatey Brown." Once I got the room painted, I enlisted Brian, my BIL, to put his handyman skills to work. We put together this beadboard and molding frame-thing. Then I hung my family pics on it....still working on what is going in those dead spaces, but it looks good. Notice the adorable red and white pillow my mother sewed while she was here. I also spray painted my curtain rod white and got new maroon curtains. (and yes, spray paint is now my new BFF). I need to finish a tray for the coffee table, get pics in the photo album and figure out what I'm putting on the end table.

Here is a shot of the "peninsula". I painted the arch over and the wall beneath. And left the columns that "oatmeal" color. Ignore all that stuff on the the peninsula...school just started and I'm working crazy hours so I haven't got to cleaning.

A shot of the walkway arch which also got painted.

The kitchen. Here is my new buffet. I still need to paint it black and get some hardware to replace that ugly 80's gold junk. There is my wall art I ingeniously assembled from stuff around the house. They are still a work in progress...I've got ribbons and pins and word-art to add. I forgot to get a shot of the awesome damask curtains mom and I did. (And I'm to lazy to get up and do it...another post when I finish the kitchen.) Now I just need to stencil the walls, add a few pops of color, and finish the tray for the island. Oh, the vinyl says "Holding you, I hold everything." My kids sure make that saying true.

Ah, the laundry room.
I figure I spend enough time in here that I should liven it up. I decided on a lilac-y purple. Mom sewed the curtains. I made some wall hanging with inspiring quotes for this wall.

The wall hangings on this wall say "Believe," "Hope," and "Endure". I've got a friend who is going to cut vinyl that says "All things" to hang underneath. I also have her cutting "Loads of Love" to hang above my washer and dryer. (Ignore all the junk on the counter...that's on the to-do list.)

Here is the kid's bathroom. Painted a nice minty green. I totally love it!

Here is the other wall of the bathroom. Notice how the pics pop off the wall.


Ah, the family room and the surprise purchase. While Brian and I were trying to move my old entertainment center (the one I hated, BTW), he commented that it probably would not survive. At that point I decided to ask forgiveness instead of permission and get something else. Along came my "$35-delivered-to-my-house thrift store find," a nice little dresser. Sure it needs new hardware and a little TLC, but at that price it doesn't get much better. Also notice my new painting. For my birthday, Steven got me this lovely picture of the Savior. "Gentle Healer" I believe it is called. I'm just trying to find the perfect accent pieces to go on the sides. But I'm in no hurry....

So there you go. Lots of fun, messy, time consuming projects out of the way. Now there are just some little things here and there to do. Slowly, yet surely. But I'm certainly loving the way things are coming together.

And sorry that the pics suck, but it gives you a small idea how things turned out....You know if you really hate the picture quality you could just pop in for a visit and I'll gladly give you a tour.