Family Gathering Part 1

My brother and his family that live in Florida are here visiting for a while. We had a family dinner yesterday. I somehow missed getting pictures of the kids making paper airplanes and flying them but that was one of the activities they did. They also just played in the dirt, on the swings, and chased each other around the yard.

Of course I had to add some pictures of Clarissa enjoying her ice-cream cone.

Here is a picture of her enjoying two of her favorite things. I think the picture explains itself.

I had to add one of her without all the mess. She really can be a lady. :)

I'm Cinderella

The funny thing is that before I started taking the quiz I was positive I would be Cinderella. Go ahead and try it for yourself.


You Are Cinderella!

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

My Garden

I just wanted to share with you pictures of our first crop of the season from our Garden. It brings great joy when you see that all that work paid off. Of course we will pick peas again soon and then we will have to pull the plants. We have never tried a second crop of peas but maybe we will give it a stab this year. From our first pull we only got four bags with one cup each in it. You can see that in the second picture.

Little People and more....

We were able to put the slide up again yesterday. Of course we ended up having some crazy cloud bursts as we were putting the slide up. After they decided to move on we were able to enjoy sharing the slide with neighbors. I wish we would have taken more pictures of the older kids but we mostly got the wee little ones. They were just so cute sitting in the chairs. Corey happened to take a picture of the mothers but because the picture wasn't that great of me I chose not to post it. It's my blog and I can choose what I want to display! I was sitting with my neighbors Alisha and Melissa.


This is a picture of Clarissa and our little neighbor Tayt. He is just a cute little guy. They are about three weeks apart.

The next two pictures are of Clarissa and Sharon. Sharon was so cute to share Chex Mix with Clarissa. They were being the best of friends. It was so adorable to see the two of them sitting and eating together. These two are about four months apart.



I obviously did something to upset Clarissa. I can't remember if it was when I took the lotion away. You can see the distress on her face. It seemed to be the world had just ended for her. :)

Tagged...

20 Years Tag

20 Years ago...

1. I was 12 years old

2. I just finished 6th grade and excited to go to Junior High.

3. I still had a crush on Jeff Dahl.

4. Had been in Young Woman's for a few months and couldn't wait to go to camp.

5. Got contacts and glasses.

10 Years ago...

1. I was 22.

2. I had been married to Corey for 9 months.

3. We were living in Cedar City.

4. Almost lost my Daddy. (I am so blessed to still have him in my life.)

5. I was working at Convergy's.

5 Years ago...

1. I was 27.

2. I had two kids. Braxton was 3 and Samantha was 1.

3. We were still living at my parents house...but that summer my oldest brother and his family moved in for the summer while building their house in the Oaks division. We were all comfy and cozy. They moved out in August/Sept. and we moved into apartments the weekend of Halloween.

4. I found out I had a tumor and had that removed with no major side affects. (I do sweat below my bottom right ear when I eat. It can get really annoying.)

3 years ago..

1. We were moving into our brand new house. Actually, it is almost to the date.

2. I was pregnant with Tayden and had him in September.

3. Mostly watching everyone rake the pluthera of rocks into piles in our yard.

4. Braxton was getting ready to start Kindergarten.

1 year ago...

1. I had just had Clarissa. She was born June 8th.

2. I was just being lazy hanging out in the house.

3. I was trying to figure out how to deal with four kids.

4. We had been in our house for two years.

5. Corey and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary.

So far this year...

1. I've got to know some amazing people.

2. I turned 32. :(

3. Lost some wonderful neighbors but luckily gained wonderful neighbors.

4. Braxton finished 2nd grade while Samantha finished Kindergarten.

Yesterday I...

1. I stayed home from church because the too youngest were snotty nosed and didn't want to share the love in nursery. Plus, I am trying to quit nursing and struggling with that.

2. I made Chimichangas and we had the coolest people over for dinner. Thanks for playing with our kids and being our friends. WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

3. We got to visit with our neighbors/friends after our dinner guests left. We had a great laugh with them while our kids were playing together.

Today I...

1. I held Clarissa a good portion of the day. She hasn't been feeling well.

2. I started the dishwasher and did a couple loads of laundry. (I still have tons to do too.)

3. I made spaghetti and cheesey breadsticks for dinner.

4. Visited with my neighbor this morning while our kids were playing together.

5. Talked to Kristi on the phone and found out she had her baby six weeks early. The story is amazing too. I'm glad you didn't totally deliver in the car.

Tomorrow I will...

1. Be a mom all over again. I don't think I would want to be anything else.

2. I will try to be a better mother tomorrow than I was today.

3. I will get to spend more time with Corey since he only works half a day.

4. I will wish Corey's sister a Happy Birthday.

5. Possibly go to dinner for her Birthday. (This means I don't have to cook.)

6. If I remember to I will go and vote.

7. Clean my house.

In the next year I will....

1. I will get to celebrate my 11 year anniversary to Corey.

2. I will work at being a better wife and mother.

3. I will turn 33. (That won't be until March so I still have time learn that I am actually 32.)

4. I will learn how to take care of two little ones again while the two older ones are in school full time.

5. I will continue trying to lose this weight.

6. I will get to love my family even more.

Now I tag......Laura, Kori, Katie, Brandie, and Hannah.

Sleeping Beauty...I mean Prince Charming

After a hard morning of playing outside and fun afternoon of playing on the waterslide this child of mine couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. I'm pretty lucky if I get a nap from him anymore. He went outside and placed crackers on the table so he could have a snack. A few minutes later Corey is yelling at me to come check out Tayden. He looked so cute. The poor little guy was pooped.

All work and some Fun!

I really am quite upset that I didn't take pictures of all the hard work we did today. I spent most of the morning weeding. I was working hard trying to make the flower garden look beautiful. When Corey got home around 1:00 he went right to work on the "Honey Do List" that I had for him. We did a bit more weeding and then started on preparing the soil to place some more cement slabs down. We only did one more row because it takes forever to do. Especially in the hot sun. After running to haircuts, meetings, and a last minute choir performance, we were all back home again and Corey mowed the lawn. We are now watering it by hand. We can't turn on our sprinklers yet because we found a broken pipe that Corey will fix this weekend. Hopefully then we will be back to sprinklers. So you ask, Where is the Fun?

After much deliberation and some major research we gave in and bought a Banzai Slide. Due to the fact that we really never go anywhere and do anything we thought maybe this could bring some life into our boring family. We watched sales and saw it for a really good price at Target. So, with a small portion of our Stimulus check we invested in this absolutely fun slide. We put it up last Saturday and the kids had a blast. Corey and myself even went down the slide. It really is a lot of fun. We are shooting to put it up again this Saturday.


This is a picture of the kids doing their slave work. We made them help dry it off as their contribution. They didn't complain one bit.

You can see Braxton peeking through the tunnel in this cute picture.

Here is a better view of the slide and the kids with some of their friends having fun.

Clarissa's B-day part 2

I am finally getting around to posting more from Clarissa's birthday. These pictures come from Saturday and Sunday celebrations. It's hard to believe that she is one. It really makes me kind of sad to see how quickly she is growing. She does make us laugh quite a bit though. It's funny to see her fight back and to roll around on the floor with Tayden. She loves to say, "Mom, mom, MOM" until I turn to her and say "Yes Clarissa". She then just smiles or tries to tell me something. It can be really cute sometimes and other times she just won't stop doing it. She is just a joy in our lives. We are so glad that she came to live with our family. I really don't know what we would do without her. I hope you enjoy some of these pictures as much as we do. She brings a lot of happiness in our lives.

Gardner Village Pic's that are Hot!

Ruthanne decided to get Clarissa's first birthday and some family pictures done by Peter (looslitaken.com) today at Gardner Village. Peter was awesome and we are extremely happy of how it has turned out so far. I thought I would just give you a sneak peek of how it went. Go to http://looslitaken.blogspot.com/. All I can say is that when this little devil of mine turns sixteen, I am going to have to lock her up and throw away the key. I am very blessed that I married my Absolutely Gorgeous wife and that our beautiful children can even make me look good. Thanks again Peter!

Happy Birthday Clarissa

End of the School Year

Samantha came home today with a Soaring Eagle award she earned at school. If I would have known I probably would have gone to see her receive the award. Somehow Braxton's teacher told the class that they weren't participating in it. What....Ever. Anyway, Braxton was bragging to me when they got home that she got the award and was so excited for her.

It's really hard for me to believe that Thursday is her last day of Kindergarten. I can't believe that the school year has come to an end. It seems like only yesterday she was starting pre-school and here she is now finishing Kindergarten and will now prepare to enter the First Grade in August. How will I survive without her help at home? How can I let her go all day? My heart aches to know that they must grow up.


Braxton will be finishing up Second Grade on Friday. Once again I am shocked to see how old he is getting. Since the week he turned three he has been going to school. So, it shouldn't come as quite as a shock to me how big he is getting. I should be used to it. I remember being in the third grade. My teacher was Ms. Budge. I loved her. I vividly remember experiences that happened in school then. That is what makes it hard. Knowing that I can still remember back to when I was his age being in school and here he is ending his Second Grade year and preparing to start Third Grade in August. As I am sitting here remembering back to my days in elementary school I hope that they will have wonderful experiences as they make there way through school. I know there will be both good and bad days. I just want to be there for them when they go through all those experiences.

Braxton and Samantha I am so proud of you and so blessed to be your Mother. I love you so very much.

Stain Remover

My friend recommended this on her blog a while back. I thought I would give it a try. I love it. You must follow the directions though. If you have had a set in stain you need to let the clothes sit for about a week for it to come out. I am still a bit skepitcal about it but I have been very impressed of what stains have come out even after it has gone through the dryer.